Contemporary Challenges and Prospects of Older People’s Care in Croatia and Possibilities for Transformations

Care for dependent older people is conceived as a new social risk and a rising issue for contemporary welfare states (Bonoli, 2006; Greve, 2017). Long-term care (Pavolini & Ranci, 2013) is one of the most rapidly developing policy areas in Europe. Croatian older people care is characterized by a welfare mix model: widespread informal care, a growing and today dominant role of private, for-profit and non-for-profit providers and general diversification of services (Matancevic & Baturina, 2024). Reluctance to policy reforms, limited state’s capacities for service provision and contested processes of decentralizations have resulted in strong trends of privatization of services, territorial disparities and inequalities in access to formal care as well as a growing burden on the informal sector of family care (Matancevic & Baturina, 2024).

The aim of the paper: (1) to present the recent trends shaping Croatian older people care system, relating to privatization, diversification of services and their accessibility and affordability, and (2) to analyse the transformative capacities of the Croatian care system to Europeanise and follow the EU relevant agenda

The methodology includes secondary data (official statistical data and reports) to analyse the abovementioned trends and semi-structured expert interviews (N=9, from different sectors) on key challenges of the Croatian welfare system and its prospects in the context of the European pillar of social rights.

The research results show that care needs and the future supply of services are recognized as a pressing social issue. The problems of poor capacities of the government and other stakeholders in delivering social services and developing innovations in the field of care, as well as the lack of capacities for the Europeanisation of welfare systems are highlighted. Results will be discussed in the context of prerequisites for the transformation of care in Croatia to meet the future needs of older people.