TO9 Clause Samples
TO9. Promoting social inclusion, combating poverty and any discrimination The imperfect system of social services and substitute care for children is often the cause of social exclusion of people with disabilities, senior citizens and children in substitute care. Due to a high degree of institutionalisation, the system of social services and substitute care in the BSR cannot deliver the fundamental solution, that is, to facilitate full social inclusion of recipients of social services and persons in substitute care. The dynamic economic development significantly affects the price level of basic living necessities for the population in the BSR (e.g. in 2012, household expenditure for rental housing in the BSR was 85.2 % higher, transport services expenditure was 15 % higher and food expenditure was 13 % higher than the Slovak average)246, which requires significantly higher investment in services that facilitate social inclusion, independence and full-fledged life of largely low-income groups of population. The measures are designed to provide support to persons at risk of social exclusion or those with limited ability to integrate socially and deal with their problems independently so that they can stay in their home environment, live independently, be active and participate socially. In terms of projections of population age structure, the share of retirement-age population in the total population of the BSR in 2025 will be 21.8 %247, which is an 8 % increase compared to 2011. The changes in the age structure of the population, the high cost of living and the development of socio-pathological phenomena in the metropolitan region will increase the risk of social exclusion, thereby creating higher demand for social services in order to deal with unfavourable social situation due to severe disability, unfavourable health or due to reaching retirement age. The need to promote de-institutionalisation of substitute care, which is under way throughout Slovakia, and the development of socio-pathological phenomena (such as crime, drug abuse, etc.) in the BSR require strong support for changes in the social and legal protection of children and social guardianship in this region. Promoting active social inclusion, de-institutionalisation, prevention and elimination of violence and children’s care services with the BSR, as well, represents benefits for the entire community and directly affect employment, or employment of people on the labour market, boosting Slovakia's ec...
TO9. Promoting social inclusion, combating poverty and any discrimination
TO9. Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty and any discrimination
1.1.4.2.1 Poverty and social exclusion of marginalised Roma communities Social exclusion of the marginalised Roma communities manifests itself through poverty, which takes an extreme and even worsening form unseen in non-Roma population living in territories with marginalised communities. According to the Research Demographic Centre130, there were some 440 000 Roma living in the territory of the SR in 2011 (8 % of the total population), mostly concentrated in the PSR, KSR, and BBSR. In 2030, Roma should account for 10 % of Slovakia’s population and 16 % of the productive or school age population. According to a UNDP sample survey carried out in Slovakia in 2010, the employment rate of Roma men and women is 20 % and, respectively, 11 %, whereas the unemployment rate of Roma men and women is 72 % and, respectively, 75 %131.The average costs132 associated with the exclusion of Roma in 127De-institutionalisation of ▇▇▇▇▇▇ care and social services is discussed in detail in the Strategy for the De-institutionalisation of the Social Services and ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Care System in the SR. 128Source: Report of the Ad Hoc Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care. DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, 2009 129▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇/statistics_explained/index.php/Healthy_life_years_statistics; period 2007 – 2011 130▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇/html/m_Mater-Dokum-141258.html#_ftn16 131 Roma Integration Strategy until 2020, Government Office of the SR, December 2011 132 Social costs primarily include the costs associated with the loss of product formation caused by low employment of Roma, as w ell as direct cost items such as health insurance of the unemployed, social assistance benefits or inefficient financing of the primary education. Slovakia were estimated at 7 % of GDP in 2008. An update to the Atlas of Roma Communities (2013) identified 804 concentrations in 584 municipalities where the living conditions of Roma can be described as undignified and inappropriate. Members of these communities, the population of which is currently estimated at some 200,000, suffer from material and social deprivation, as well as significantly reduced life opportunities in overall. As shown by several surveys, geographical location of Roma settlements and limited social contacts represent a real barrier which deteriorates their full-fledged participation in economic a...