The main feature of Croatian islands, in addition to their beautiful nature, is the fact that they are demographically and sociologically one of the most threatened areas affected by ageing. The ageing of the island population is the result of a long-term depopulation caused by the continuous emigration of the younger working-active population over the past hundred years, but also by the retirement return migration in the last thirty years. The most critical situation is on small islands where the majority of population is aged over 60 and this has a significant impact on all aspects of island life. The research conducted on small islands in the Sibenik archipelago in 2011 has shown that older people live alone, with no significant health problems limiting their daily activities, in their own households (homes), on modest pensions, and many of them supplement their income through agriculture. They very often financially help their children, who live mostly in nearby mainland cities. The necessity of self-reliance, due to the lack of younger generations, forces the inhabitants of Croatian island to lead an active life until their old age. Although they are no longer actively employed, they still continue to contribute significantly to the family and society through their involvement in various community activities.
Polarizacijski procesi započeti u Hrvatskoj 1950-ih rezultirali su nejednakim društveno-ekonomskim razvojem i prostornim prerazmještajem stanovništva, te koncentracijom stanovništva, radnih mjesta i stanova u gradskim naseljima. Obalni gradovi kao polovi i nositelji društveno-gospodarskog razvoja u svojim regijama postaju žarišta koncentracije stanovništva, a otoci i zaleđe prostori populacijskoga pražnjenja i starenja. Intenzivno doseljavanje pozitivno se odrazilo na demografski razvitak većih obalnih gradova, pa oni postaju nositelji bioreprodukcije i sve do posljednjega međupopisnoga razdoblja (1991.-2001.) bilježe dinamičan populacijski rast. Političke i gospodarske promjene te posljedice rata produbile su i ubrzale ionako nepovoljne demografske procese, što se ogleda u ukupnoj depopulaciji te pogoršanju struktura stanovništva obalnih jadranskih gradova. Smanjenje rodnosti, starenje stanovništva te promjene životnih vrijednosti i novi životni stil dovode do transformacije obitelji i promjena u veličini kućanstava i odnosa među članovima. Opća je tendencija postupno smanjivanje broja višečlanih kućanstava i neprestani rast udjela dvočlanih i samačkih kućanstava. ; Polarisation processes, which began in Croatia in the 1950's, resulted in disparate socio-economic development, in an uneven spatial distribution of the population, and in a concentration of people, jobs and housing in urban settlements. Coastal cities, as hubs and agents of socio-economic development, in their regions became focal points for the concentration of the population, while islands and hinterland areas suffered depopulation and demographic ageing. Intense in-migration had a positive influence on the demographic development of coastal cities. They became hotbeds of bioreproduction and up to the most recent intercensus period (1991–2001) displayed dynamic population growth. However political and economic changes in this recent period, together with the effects of the war, deepened and accelerated increasingly unfavourable demographic processes, which were reflected in an overall reduction of the population of coastal Adriatic cities, as well as in a deterioration of its structure. Decreasing fertility, demographic ageing and changes in life values brought about a transformation of the family, and hence changes in the size of households and in the relations among family members. The general trend today involves a gradual reduction in the number of household members, and a continuous increase in the number of two and one-member households.
A life-course perspective is a complex approach to researching the life of an individual or group or certain processes used in various disciplines (Börsch-Supan et al., 2013), especially in sociology, demography, psychology, and economics. The life course perspective seeks to connect the historical context that determines an individual's life with personal history (key events of his or her life) (Edmonston, 2013; Holman and Walker, 2020). The paper explains the differences among how the life-course perspective, lifecycle perspective and life-span perspective approach research topics. More specifically, this paper aims to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of research on aging (quality of life of older people) and migration (quality of life of migrants) from the perspective of life course by reviewing some of the most important papers addressing it, both theoretically and/or practically. In the first of the five chapters of the paper, Introduction, the author explains why the perspective of life course is an interesting research approach to selected topics in Croatia. Together with the other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia has experienced a strong increase in the share of the elderly population and significant migration in the last thirty or so years. The major causes of accelerated demographic aging are an increase in life expectancy and a decrease in fertility. The main causes of migration are significant political, social and economic changes in the "old" and "new" EU countries. These are changes in the socio-political and economic systems of the former socialist countries on the one hand, and the expansion of the EU resulting in the opening of the labour market and the possibility of "new" labour migration within Europe on the other. Due to the wars in the Middle East, there is also the issue of dealing with large refugee waves. The life-course perspective is particularly applicable to research on population aging, the assessment of the quality of life and the degree of integration of immigrants in the destination country. The second chapter, Life Perspective and Aging, explains various theoretical approaches to older people (Hagestad and Dannefer, 2001). The institutional approach largely addresses the socio-economic status and roles of the elderly, for example, retirement (Blane et al., 2004; Wanka, 2019). The cultural perspective often deals with negative stereotypes related to aging and formulating different approaches to the elderly (Hagestad and Dannefer, 2001). In order to achieve a holistic approach to aging and old age, various perspectives should be integrated, and aging should be interpreted as a reflection of interrelated events during an individual's life: historical, environmental and personal. Such a more complex approach involving changes and events throughout an individual's life is a life cycle perspective (Godley and Hareven, 2001) considered within a particular historical context. Although it is widely accepted, some authors (Giele and Elder, 1998; Edmonston, 2013) explain the limitation of the term "life cycle" by advocating the phrase "life course". In doing so, they explain life course as a complex relationship between socially shaped events and the roles an individual assumes during life. According to them, this differs from the concept of a life cycle in that the events and roles that make up an individual life experience do not necessarily continue at certain stages of life, as is suggested by the word "cycle". In addition to the concept of a life cycle, researchers of aging and the quality of life of older people (Fuller-Iglesias, Smith and Antonucci, 2009) also theoretically compare the perspective of life course and the life span perspective without opposing them. Both advocate a view of aging as a long-lasting, multidimensional, continuous, and dynamic process. Life theories deal with the processes and pathways of development and aging as a lifelong process of an individual while life theories deal with differences in socially conditioned events, changes, roles and experiences in the lives of individuals (Fuller-Iglesias, Smith and Antonucci, 2009: 3–5) among certain parts of society (groups). An individual's daily life is explained by processes and relationships that determine the broader context and how others experience it. Interpersonal relationships with other members of society play a significant role in an individual's lifestyle and quality of life, regardless of his or her age or migration (in)experience. The life course perspective seeks to explain the impact of different processes on groups of people and individual experiences at each life stage but also the relationship between events from different stages of life. The third chapter, Life Perspective and Biographical Method, discusses the need to return to more significant use of qualitative and interpretative methods, as well as the interest in using a biographical perspective, due to a better understanding of aging and quality of life in old age as well as migration reasons and integration of immigrants in the country of immigration. By telling their life story, a person clarifies the personal understanding of changes in the immediate (personal circle) and the wider environment (society). They also describe how individual members of the group to which the individual feels affiliated, for example, the generation of older people in a particular environment (islands) (Podgorelec, 2008) or immigrants, experienced changes in society during life (older people) or a personal migrant experience and to what extent the changes experienced affect their lives (Amit and Litwin, 2010; Podgorelec, Gregurović and Klempić Bogadi, 2019). Biographical research is especially useful in monitoring the development of an individual's career, the impact of migration (on a personal level, but also in terms of community development), the way people face new experiences and changes during aging or migration and how they adapt (especially to various losses: employment, health and functional status, life partners, friends etc.). The fourth chapter, Life and Migration Perspective, explains certain characteristics of migration and migrants, especially when moving to the country of immigration. Thus, Jasso (2003: 334) grouped them into characteristics that affect adaptation – age, gender, country of origin, level of education (Finney and Marshall, 2018; Podgorelec, Klempić Bogadi and Gregurović, 2020); degree of success – from assimilation, acculturation and adaptation to integration into the receiving society (Berry, 1990; Amit, 2012; Amit and Bar-Lev, 2014; Podgorelec, Gregurović and Klempić Bogadi, 2019) or failure – giving up and returning to the country of origin or moving to a third country; the success of migrants in childhood or the second generation of migrants (childhood and schooling in the country of immigration) (Pivovarova and Powers, 2019); demographic and economic effects on societies of origin and immigration – studies of loss and gain (relocation of qualified migrants, artists, entrepreneurs) (Gregurović, 2019), remittances (Nzima, Duma and Moyo, 2017), etc. Migrants choose to move at various ages and are motivated by various reasons (Kennan and Walker, 2013). Migration is a process that affects both social environments – that of the origin of the migrant as well as the immigration environment, even if the migrant migrates within a certain country (Čipin, Strmota and Međimurec, 2016; Finney and Marshall, 2018) and assuming that social and cultural differences between places of resettlement are not significant (Amit, 2012; Podgorelec, Gregurović and Klempić Bogadi, 2019). Edmonston (2013: 3) relies on the work of Elder (1994, 1998) in explaining the benefits of using a life-course perspective in (im)migration research. He connects four topics that Elder considers crucial in the analysis of life course: the interconnectedness of individual lives and historical time, planning and selection of important events in an individual›s life, the connection of an individual›s life with others (family, friends, work environment) and action (effect) of social institutions during life. The connection between the general approach to the life course analysis (Elder, 1994, 1998) and the previously mentioned groups of topics in migration research is noticeable already at the first glance (Jasso, 2003). Each of the topics can be supported by various examples in Croatian society. In the last chapter, instead of a conclusion, the author states that by reviewing a part of the literature on aging and migration, it is possible to deduce that, although fundamentally separate processes, observed from a life-course perspective, they share similar trajectories, transitions, turning points and timing (Edmonston, 2013). Thus, research into the quality of life of older people must be grounded in the theoretical construction of aging and the historical context, relying on collected data on the individual's important life events (life story) and judgments of experiences by both respondents and researchers. A life-course perspective that measures the impact of social, political and economic conditions on the life of an individual and/or a group is an interesting and complex approach to researching selected dimensions of migrants quality of life, given that migration always takes place in a particular historical context by influencing the social environment – countries of origin and countries of immigration. Public policies that support the organisation of care for the elderly, facilitate adaptation and promote the integration of migrants harmonise all sections of society and affect the life satisfaction of the general population.
The 2011 population census recorded 4,290,612 residents of Croatia among which 584,947 or 13.7% were born abroad. Even though the most of them were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (70% or 409,357) no research was conducted about this significant group of immigrants. This paper analyses the migration flows between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia during the last 60 years, especially focusing on demographic data available from diverse secondary sources and data on migration history and transnational activities obtained through empirical study ?The Effects of Immigration from Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Sociodemographic Development of Croatian Urban Areas?. The survey was conducted in 2014 in Sesvete, district of City of Zagreb on a judgemental/purposive sample of 301 adult Croatian residents born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Historical events (especially war) and economic developments had the influence on the number of immigrants as well as their motivation and decision to move from Bosnia and Hercegovina to Croatia. The data obtained through secondary sources and the results of conducted survey confirmed the shift in dominant migration patterns during three periods. First period, after the WWII until beginning of 1990s, indicated mostly labour migration where the migrations from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia were mostly driven by economic underdevelopment of the country of origin and directed towards Croatian commercial and industrial centres. In the first half of 1990s the change of socio-political system (breakup of the former federal state) and the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina induced significant forced migrations directed towards Croatia. After the end of the war and due to the consequences of armed conflict effecting the contemporary socioeconomic and political development of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a part of its citizens who were temporary settled in Croatia (as labour migrants or refugees) or elsewhere abroad, decided not to move back to Bosnia and Herzegovina but permanently stay in or move to Croatia. This was followed by the new period of migration driven (again) mostly by economic reasons complemented by general social situation and advanced unfavourable demographic processes in Bosnia and Hercegovina. These conditions stimulated the citizens of Bosnia and Hercegovina to migrate more frequently to other, economically more developed countries (Germany, Austria) effecting significantly the number of immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Croatia. The respondents included in empirical research are mostly Croats by ethnic affiliation (93.4%) and 99% of them have Croatian citizenship. In the highest proportion they migrated to Croatia during the 1990s. The results showed statistically significant correlation between the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina from where they moved to Croatia and the period of migration (the most numerous migrations were recorded from the area of the contemporary Republika Srpska). Three most frequent reasons of migration were war destruction (41.5%), economic reasons (33.2%) and family reasons (13%). Almost two thirds of respondents (63.1%) had no prior migration experience and more than 90% plan to stay permanently in Croatia. The study also confirmed significant social and transnational activities of immigrants. However, these respondents cannot be considered as the ?typical migrants? since they largely share language, culture and tradition of receiving society which presents a favourable environment for their legal/political, socioeconomic and sociocultural integration.
IN CROATIAN: Rad donosi uvid u kvalitetu života na razini stambenih naselja u europskim zemljama. Pri tome se stanovanje i zadovoljstvo stanovanjem u stambenim naseljima te okolnom prostoru i susjedstvu razmatra kao važna dimenzija kompleksnoga istraživačkog koncepta kvalitete života. Analiza kvalitete stanovanja donosi zanimljivu razdiobu na tzv. dvije Europe ili dva tipa stambenih naselja. U vrijeme planiranja i izgradnje zajednička im je bila ideja oblikovanja modernih i funkcionalnih, mješovitih naselja koja će riješiti stambeno pitanje većine stanovnika, odnosno različitih društvenih slojeva. Ipak, prvi tip naselja obilježava društveno-povijesni kontekst Zapadne, a drugi Istočne Europe ili, prema nekim autorima, razlike u kvaliteti stanovanja između "kapitalističkog" i "socijalističkog grada". Upravo se iz te perspektive čini korisnom analiza kvalitete života i mogućnost obnove sada već ostarjelih i depriviranih naselja izgrađenih nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata u oba tipa grada. Podjednako onih u Zapadnoj Europi, koje nerijetko obilježava značajno lošiji imidž i veći broj socioekonomskih problema (kriminal, segregacija, propadanje i dr.) kao i naselja u postsocijalističkoj Europi u kojoj su velika stambena naselja iz socijalističkog razdoblja još uvijek poželjna stambena opcija, ali također sa sve češćom pojavom problema vezanih uz održavanje i brigu o zgradama i izgrađenoj okolini (zajedničkim i javnim prostorima). Posljednjih desetljeća sve češće u oba tipa naselja dolazi do iseljavanja srednjih i viših slojeva stanovnika što postupno dovodi do segregacije, ali i propadanja u socijalnom i fizičkom smislu. Navedeni negativni aspekti kvalitete stanovanja zahtijevaju donošenje nacionalnih stambenih strategija i programa obnove koji u zapadnoeuropskim zemljama postoje i provode se, a u većini postsocijalističkih zemalja ne postoje, u čemu Hrvatska nije iznimka. Obnova stambenih naselja neizostavan je dio stambene politike svake zemlje kojim se može ublažiti ili spriječiti daljnje opadanje kvalitete života stanovnika tih naselja. --- IN ENGLISH: This paper provides a clear insight into the quality of life on the level of housing estates in European countries. In doing so, the questions of housing and satisfaction with the housing situation in the estates as well as with surrounding areas and the neighbourhood, in general, is being considered as an important dimension of a complex research concept called the quality of life. In analysing the quality of housing, we inevitably encounter an interesting division into the so-called two different versions of Europe or two types of housing estates. In the phase of planning and constructing, they shared a common idea of designing modern and functional, mixed estates that would solve the housing question of most residents, i.e. of different social classes. However, the first type is marked by the socio-historical context of Western Europe, and the second by Eastern Europe, or as some authors like to frame it, the differences in housing quality between 'capitalist' and 'socialist' cities. From that perspective specifically, it seems useful to analyse the quality of life and the possibility of renewing both types of housing estates, by now deprived and decrepit, built after the Second World War in both types of cities. This applies equally to those in Western Europe, often marked by a significantly worse image and higher levels of socioeconomic problems (crime, segregation, deterioration and other), as well as the estates in post-socialist Europe, where large housing estates built during the socialist period remain a desirable housing option, but that are increasingly facing problems related to maintenance and upkeep of buildings and built environments (both public and communal spaces). In the last decades, in both types of estates there has been an increasing depopulation of middle and higher classes of residents, which progressively causes segregation but also deterioration in the social and physical sense. All the mentioned negative aspects of the housing quality require adopting national housing strategies and renewal programs which exist and are implemented in Western European countries, while they do not exist in most post-socialist countries, and Croatia is not an exception. Housing estates renewal should be an essential part of every country's housing policy, aimed at alleviating or preventing further degradation of the quality of life for housing estate residents.
This paper is result of research on the specificities of migration and their influence on the aging of women in particular island surroundings as well as on the causes and social consequences of these processes. It also discusses certain domains of the quality of life valued by the elderly. In addition to providing a theoretical overview, the authors present data collected by methods of secondary data analysis, and observation and semi-structured interviews in an effort to provide insight into aging on the Croatian islands from a gender standpoint. The qualitative data used were collected during several researches carried out from 2003 to 2013 within the project entitled "The influence of migrations on the regional development of Croatia". The analysis focuses mainly on the experience of elderly women who live in small island communities, defined on the basis of similar economic, social and psychological parameters regardless of the island size. The data presented in this paper indicate that the aging of women on the islands and the quality of their life in later years are dependent on a number of factors – personal or family member (non)involvement in migration, size of the community in which they live, degree of island isolation, quality of existing infrastructure, personal health, degree of participation in social life etc. Additionally, notwithstanding their individual specific life cycle or the island on which they reside, a high level of activity into very old age is a common denominator for elderly island women. In conclusion, due to current demographic trends, the authors expect the continuation of the process of population aging on the Croatian islands, increase in the number of predominantly female single households and continuation of equality in the division of roles between island males and females outside the home, with concurrent maintaining of "female roles" in the home and in caring for the elderly (professionally or volunteer), which will strengthen some quality of life related issues for the inhabitants of small island communities.
