the impact of poverty as a risk factor for social exclusion and employability in slovakia

The impact of poverty as a risk factor for social exclusion and employability in Slovakia

Facts about respondents of the questionnaire

• Number of students: 50 • Age of students: from 17 to 19.

We compared final results of this questionnaire with real facts and information in Slovakia.

We made charts to show what students think about Slovak poverty and what the real facts are.

34%

66%

1. Gender of respondentsA) male B) female

80%

4%

16%

A) has been increasing B) has been decreasing C) staying about the same

2. Perception of poverty

Statistics about poverty in Slovakia

According to the European Commission report „Poverty and Social Exclusion“ published in 2010:• Slovaks think that poverty has strongly

increased• 25% of Slovaks think that one person in three

is poor, 26% think that one in five is poor and 24% think that one in ten is poor


• Most people have an inherent sense of what it means to be poor. But choosing a definition is much trickier. Is poverty an absolute or relative condition? What is a decent standard of living?

• Poverty means different things in different countries even within the European Union.

• 30% of Slovaks think that people live in poverty if their resources are so limited that they can not participate fully in the life of the society the live in.

• 25% of Slovaks think that people live in poverty if they have less that national poverty threshold per month to live on.


• Slovakia is the part of Europe which is one of the richest areas in the world, yet around 84 million Europeans

(17% of the total population) live below the poverty line, and many face serious obstacles in accessing employment, education, housing, social services and financial services.

4% 24%

60%

12%

A) Because they have been unluckyB) Because of laziness and lack of willpowerC) Because there is much injustice in our societyD) It's an inevitable part of modern progress

3. Why do people live in need?

3. Why are people live in need?

2%

96%

2%

A) too much B) too little C) about the right amount

4. What do you think that our Slovak government is

doing?


• Most often, those affected by poverty are children, the elderly, families with more than three children, single parents and the handicapped – one of the most vulnerable groups in society.

• Health care is free but quality must be paid for.

• For many single or divorced mothers - another group who often faces serious problems - one of their common realities is that the father does not pay child maintenance.


• Slovakia provides families with several types of cash benefits in addition to regular maternity and parental leave payments. However, the efficiency of these benefits is often questioned as the country’s fertility rate is relatively low.

• As for Slovakia, there is a tax credit which enables parents to deduct more than 250 euros from their yearly income tax for every child up until the age of 25.

• Many people think that the Slovak government should do more about people in need.

Not at all Very little Not much/

Moderately

A lot Very much0

5

10

15

20

25

FamilyHealthEducationEntertainmentInterpersonal RelationshipsEnvironment

5. To what extent are the following sectors affected

by poverty in Slovakia?

Local people liv. In city Local people liv. In rural areas

EU citizens liv. In your country

Citizens from 3 rd countries

Undocumented migrants

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

6

7

8

12

13

0

4

0

4

6 Not at all

Very much

6. To what extent are the following groups of people

affected by poverty in Slovakia?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

53

54

1

43 3 3

7 7

4

1

54

5

13

1213

9 9

1415

29

26

29

2527

24

Local people living in a city Local people living in rural areasEU citizens living in your country Citizens from third countriesUndocumented migrants

7. What items the following groups of

people living in Slovakia do not have and can´t

afford ?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

21

3 32

1

5

3

1 1

4 4 4 4

8

4 43

7

32

15

24

16

25

1920

2122

20

26

15

18

22

18

Local people living in a city Local people living in rural areas EU citizens living in your countryCitizens from third countries5 Undocumented migrants

7. What items the following groups of

people living in Slovakia do not have and can´t

afford ?


All in all we can say that living in poverty in Slovakia can mean:

• becoming isolated from family and friends;• lacking hope • lacking information about the supports and services available to you;• having problems in getting your basic needs met and accessing decent housing,

health services and schools and life long learning opportunities;• living in poor environmental conditions or in a remote and isolated rural area;• going without very basic necessities because you may not be able to afford

essential utilities like heat and electricity or to buy healthy food or new clothing or to use public transport;

• being unable to afford to buy medicines or visit the dentist;• living from day to day with no savings or reserves for times of crisis such as

losing a job or falling ill and thus falling into debt;• being exploited and forced into illegal situations;• being unable to participate in normal social life such as going to the pub or

cinema or sports events or visiting friends or buying birthday presents for family members.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

8

11

9

4

78

9

4

1 Never 5 Always

8. What factors prevent people from doing social

activities

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

23

2 2

17

6

1213

1 Never

5 Always

9. How often do poor people go without these

items because of shortage of money?


• The only leisure activity with higher participation among the poor is television watching:

• 22% of the poor watch TV more than 5 hours of daily,

• compared to 8% of the non-poor.

8%

2%

6%

6%

8%

20%

44%

4% 2%

reached retirement ageretired early, by choiceretired early, not by choicebecame (permanently) disabledwere unpaid for a long period of timeplace of work shut downwere dismissedrerm of employment/contract endedfamily responsibilitiesgot married

12. Main reason of unemployment

Statistics about poverty in Slovakia• Unemployment rate in Slovakia is around 12,40 %

(October 2014, tradingeconomics.com)


Slovakia: Unemployment rate by sex and age

UnemploymentUnemployment25 years25 yearsUnemployment less thanUnemployment less thanand overand overUnemployed 25 yearsUnemployed 25 years101020203030TotalTotalMenMenWomenWomenSlovakia: UnemploymentSlovakia: Unemployment

• Alarming statistics:

• Slovakia has the third worst youth unemployment rates in the EU (visegradrevue.eu, 2013)

• Unemployment less than 25 years: 33,4%• Unemployment 25 years and over: 12,4

1 Strongly disagree

2 Disagree 3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Agree 5 Strongly agree

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

A job is just a way of earning money - no moreI would enjoy having a paid job even if I did not need the moneyWork is a person´s most important acitivity

10. What factors will influence you when you

choose a job?

job secu

rity

high in

come

opportunities f

or adva

ncement

an in

tere

sting j

ob

to w

ork independently

to help oth

er people

useful jo

b

to decid

e their ti

mes of w

ork

satisfa

ction

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 Not at all Important 5 Very Important

11. Important items in a job

Thanks for attention

the impact of poverty as a risk factor for social exclusion and employability in slovakia

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