ABSTRACT
The chapter provides a deeper insight into the scope and type of welfare state change in Croatia. It shows that the Croatian welfare state has undergone continuous transformations in the last two decades, with reforms being characterised by incremental and gradual changes. While there is some evidence of welfare state expansion, reforms mostly brought retrenchment. Retrenchment was particularly characteristic of the core ‘traditional’ social policy sectors, such as pensions, healthcare, and social assistance, where cost containment and ‘rationalisation’ featured among priorities, while expansion was most notable in the area of the war veterans’ rights (passive in character). Although recently one can notice higher investments in the labour market and work-family policies, these segments of the welfare state have remained underdeveloped in Croatia. Reforms did not follow one coherent policy paradigm and were frequently a subject of politicisation resulting in ill-advised, uncoordinated, and inconsistent policy solutions.
