The IMAD and economic and development policies | Slovenia's Development Strategy | Development Report | Social Overview | SEDS | The Factors and Impacts of the Information Society | EIRO
	For printed issue you can call +386 1 478 1043 or e-mail . A new monograph (replacing the Slovenian Human Development Report) Social Overview published in April 2007 We invite you to read. You can order the monograph at: IMAD, Gregorčičeva 27, 1000 Ljubljana Tel.: +386 1/ 478 10 43 (Contact: Katja FERFOLJA) Fax: +386 1/ 478 10 70 E-mail: For the subscription form, click here: subscription form   Editor in Chief: Jana S. Javornik

Dear Sir or Madam

The project's main aim is to draw an analytical portrait of Slovenian society, the climate and conditions that prevail in it, along with the medium- and long-term development trends that affect social cohesion. The Social Overview was born out of the authors' desire to look at the general situation and development in Slovenia from a different viewpoint than the predominantly economic perspective which characterises most of the IMAD's reports. This kind of 'social' analysis is regarded as an indispensable complement (rather than an alternative) to economic analyses. By looking at the same phenomena from different viewpoints, we can ultimately combine the snapshots to form a complex picture of the overall welfare in Slovenia. The Social Overview therefore covers many areas also dealt with in the IMAD's other projects, yet these topics are covered from a different perspective and within a different framework. The Overview provides abundant explanations of the applied analytical concepts, methodologies and the quality of available data. This is particularly important in view of the fact that plenty of relevant raw data for the study of social development are available in Slovenia, however they are collected by several independent institutions and remain mostly fragmented. We have therefore made an effort to clearly present the analytical toolkit applied in the analysis and to back our arguments and conclusions firmly with the underlying data

First Social Overview highlights some important new topics that have hitherto not been analysed by the IMAD or have been analysed differently and often on a more limited scale. Many of these topics, intended to become regular features of the Social Overview, examine the living conditions in Slovenia; in other words, they show how Slovenians live. In analysing the social stratification we have defined four income groups which, in our view, allow a satisfactory insight into the Slovenian social strata and have used these income brackets to analyse data on household income and expenditure. A large amount of data, in itself compelling for both the general public and researchers, has been analysed against a single coherent conceptual framework bringing together the notions of social cohesion, social capital and satisfaction with life. We have made an attempt at a systematic definition of access to those goods and services that are critical to the well-being of people and whose availability is also a matter of public interest and have taken the first steps towards a more systematic analysis of this important issue, for which available data sources are scarce. In short, our analysis attempts to take into consideration a wide range of elements that, in our view, crucially determine the quality of living and satisfaction with life.

The special topic in the first Social Overview - the long-living society - brings another important issue onto Slovenia's public debate agenda on social development. We discuss the challenges and opportunities that society's ageing, a fact which has been projected for a long time yet overlooked in policies, poses not only to social security systems but also to the increasingly (over)burdened support and interpersonal networks that can break under excessive load and expectations. Ageing is the result of the combined effect of improved living conditions (reflected in higher life expectancy) and declining birth rates. Almost without exception, European countries have responded in similar ways to this phenomenon. They have been examining, testing and/or implementing policies for the elderly (retired people, those older than 65 years or elderly employees) while also re-examining and revising their national youth policies.

Jana S. Javornik, Editor in Chief and
Janez Šušteršič, Director

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