engleski

66 Social Entrepreneurship - an Opportunity for Integration of People with Disabilities in Croatia?

The welfare state is standing in front of the demands of modernization in terms of caring for its most vulnerable groups. Persons with disabilities are in a particularly vulnerable position. This paper will analyze the situation of people with disabilities related to the labor market and social integration in Croatia. The methodological approach will be based on qualitative research paradigm. Desk research will be used as the method of collecting data from existing resources including secondary data from available research and studies, related to the topic, as well as the existing reports from national government institutions and offices. Data available from official statistical databases will also be used. Besides that, we will use several illustrative case studies of social enterprises working in this domain. The main goal of this paper is to analyze social entrepreneurship as an opportunity for integration of people with disabilities in Croatia. The purpose of social enterprises is to create a positive social impact. They are largely oriented to the provision of social services and social inclusion of marginalized groups into the labor market and in society. Social entrepreneurship is seen as the important area for integration of people with disabilities. In Europe, there is a long tradition of social enterprises for work integration (WISE) which target economic and social integration of different groups that are marginalized in the labor market. Problems such as inadequate promotion, lack of awareness and adequate skills affect that WISE in post-socialist European countries is characterized by delayed development. In Croatia, that is particularly prominent. In our context generally, there is not enough awareness of what social entrepreneurship represents and what kind of impact could have on the society. Therefore, we will analyze the social enterprises for work integration as a special form of social entrepreneurship. We will also reflect on other types of social enterprises in Croatia and their capacity to provide different types of social services, address the needs and improve the employment and social inclusion of people with disabilities in Croatia. Finally, we will provide recommendations for the advancement of social entrepreneurship in our context, given the specific path of development, in order to enhance its potential for strengthening the social and economic integration of people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

work integration social enterprises, employment of persons with disability

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