engleski

Need for integration of labour market policy and social policy in Croatia

Croatia, like many other Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), has been characterized during the past 20 years by U-shaped trends of GDP, strong and persistent declines in employment rates and unemployment pools desperately stagnant in spite of the rapid structural change taking place. The Mentioned remarkable increase in unemployment has not been accompanied by adequate scientific and political attempts to understand the causes of the rise in unemployment that took place. Line ministries and institutions throughout the entire period were assigned to develop programs of active labour market policy (ALMP).Until now, evaluations of ALMP in Croatia were reduced to attempts to analyse effectiveness of measures on diminishing overall rate of unemployment or unemployment of selected disadvantaged groups, without opening the question of how those measures should be integrated into other related policies. It is particularly important that labour market policy and social policy be co-ordinated so as to become mutually reinforcing. Co-ordination is, of course, desirable, but is often difficult to achieve. This paper is an attempt to point out the limitations and the real potential of ALMP, and its connections with welfare policy. First, we analyse the possibilities and limitations of active labour market policy (ALMP). A summary of ALMP suggests contradictory evidence as to the efficiency of different programmes. After a short review of the current situation regarding cooperation between employment and social policy in Croatia and providing different successful experience, we present proposals for improvement.

Labour market policy; social policy; social inclusion; unemployment

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