Suchergebnisse

Policies aimed at the family are an important tool for governments to achieve various goals to improve society, manage populations, enhance well-being, and reduce inequality, among other things. Choosing an optimal policy design often constitutes a compromise between different goals and priorities. The Croatian tax allowance for dependent children has often been criticised in the literature for its regressivity, and opacity due to a lack of parliamentary oversight. There is room to improve the child benefit allocation. This research investigates whether Croatia could reform its policies on child benefit and tax allowance for dependent children without increasing the budget, based on family policies that have been implemented in Greece, Germany, the Slovak Republic, Sweden and the United Kingdom. EUROMOD, a widely used European tax-benefit microsimulation model, is used to assess the differences in structure and distributional effects of these 'imported' policies in Croatia. The results highlight that imported policies would make support to families with children more equitable and reduce child poverty.

Public policies supporting families with children differ among countries but with the same goal of improving the well-being of children. Using a microsimulation model, this article assesses the cash support which families receive for their children in Croatia, Greece, Germany, the Slovak Republic, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The impact of policies across the income distribution on different family sizes, child-rearing cost compensation and child poverty is estimated. A method for the calculation of child-contingent payments for each child by order of birth in the family is proposed as a complementary indicator of policy design. The results confirm that a combination of universal and targeted support (either from family or social assistance benefits) is the most effective in poverty reduction and cost compensation. While high support for larger families greatly reduces poverty, generous universal or even lower support for large families has proved to be at least equally effective.

The purpose of this study was to explore the receptiveness of Croatian local governmental officials in adopting a council-manager reform model of governance, given the low administrative and fiscal capacities of many Croatian cities. We surveyed all 128 cities in Croatia with a response rate of 48% ( n = 61). Sixty-two percent of top administrators were skeptical that this reform model was feasible. Our data suggest a desire of city administrators for shielding administrative functions from political ones as half of all respondents felt political pressure in budgeting and personnel issues. This was amplified through the qualitative data where respondents cited political parties' control in city administration and interference in administrative functions. Chief obstacles to implementing reform components focused on concerns about the political influence of politicians.

Family policies and their impact on the well-being of families are a frequent topic of research. However, local social benefits are the least researched of such policies. This paper aims to explore the extent to which the most important cash and in-kind local social benefits offered by the Croatian capital Zagreb and by the country's three largest cities (Split, Rijeka and Osijek) cover the costs of child-rearing and reduce child poverty. Using microsimulation techniques, the support provided to families with children is estimated, and the distributional impact of these policies is assessed. The results reveal that local benefits greatly complement central government policies and substantially increase support for families but with differences among cities; the policies of Zagreb and Rijeka prove to be the most generous and effective, followed by those of Split and Osijek. The main limitations of this study come from the use of microsimulation models: the assumption of full benefit take-up for some policies and the lack of simulation for other policies due to a lack of data. This is the first comprehensive study of family benefits at the central and local government levels in Croatia. ; Obiteljska politika i njen utjecaj na dobrobit obitelji česta su tema istraživanja. Međutim, lokalne socijalne naknade obično se u tim istraživanjima zanemaruju. Ovaj rad istražuje koliko najvažnije novčane naknade i naknade u naravi lokalne samouprave, koje pružaju glavni grad Hrvatske (Zagreb) i tri najveća grada (Split, Rijeka i Osijek), pokrivaju troškove brige o djeci i zaista smanjuju njihovo siromaštvo. Korištenjem mikrosimulacijskih tehnika procjenjuju se potpore obiteljima s djecom i njihovi distribucijski učinci. Rezultati pokazuju kako su lokalne naknade komplementarne naknadama središnje države i da značajno povećavaju potporu obiteljima, ali postoje razlike između gradova. Naknade Zagreba i Rijeke su najveće i najučinkovitije, a slijede ih naknade Splita i Osijeka. Glavna ograničenja ovog istraživanja proizlaze iz upotrebe mikrosimulacijskog modela. Naime, pretpostavlja se da svi potencijalni korisnici ostvaruju pravo na naknade, a određene naknade nije moguće simulirati zbog nedostatka podataka. Ovaj je rad prva sveobuhvatna studija o obiteljskim naknadama na razini središnje i lokalne države u Hrvatskoj.

Family policies and their impact on the well-being of families are a frequent topic of research. However, local social benefits are the least researched of such policies. This paper aims to explore the extent to which the most important cash and in-kind local social benefits offered by the Croatian capital Zagreb and by the country's three largest cities (Split, Rijeka and Osijek) cover the costs of child-rearing and reduce child poverty. Using microsimulation techniques, the support provided to families with children is estimated, and the distributional impact of these policies is assessed. The results reveal that local benefits greatly complement central government policies and substantially increase support for families but with differences among cities; the policies of Zagreb and Rijeka prove to be the most generous and effective, followed by those of Split and Osijek. The main limitations of this study come from the use of microsimulation models: the assumption of full benefit take-up for some policies and the lack of simulation for other policies due to a lack of data. This is the first comprehensive study of family benefits at the central and local government levels in Croatia.