The proportion of young people neither in employment nor in education or training (commonly referred as NEET) in Slovakia has fallen significantly over the last decade and has reached the European average. However, the internal structure of the group of NEETs remains a problem; it is strongly determined regionally, socially and ethnically, and the significantly dominant representation of specific groups of young people in the NEET category has not been reduced in the long term.
The Lost Millennials project seeks to highlight this problem and propose solutions to improve the situation for these groups.
One of the most disadvantaged groups of young people in Slovakia are young people from marginalised Roma communities (MRC), who suffer from significant levels of structural and statistical discrimination. According to the findings of the EU_SILC_MRK conducted in 2020, in the 1 year prior to the survey, 23% of Roma men and 19% of Roma women experienced discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin when looking for a job, in employment, when looking for housing, in healthcare, in education, when contacting authorities or in services, with the most frequent experience being when looking for a job (33%), with men having a worse experience compared to women – 37% vs. 28%[1].
Based on data from the Atlas of Roma Communities[2], there are 818 local municipalities in Slovakia, which together contain 1,043 marginalised Roma communities. 88% of these communities are located in three regions of Slovakia, in all three cases regions whose economic performance lags behind the rest of the country, which has a direct impact on the structure of the labour market and the availability of quality jobs. The size of the population living in sub-standard conditions in marginalised Roma communities, often without access to basic infrastructure and public services, is estimated at 288 000 people[3], while the size of the group aged 25-29 in marginalized Roma communities is estimated at 9.5%[4].
Despite the significant labour force shortage that the labour market in Slovakia suffers from, young people from the MRC are not among the attractive groups of employees from the employers’ point of view. This is due to the low level of education attained, as well as the low level of work habits and a number of other structural barriers that active labour market policy measures should aim to overcome. Despite the fact that the active labour market policy budget in Slovakia is significantly underfunded compared to the EU average (0.59% vs. 0.29% of GDP)[5], a significant part of the budget is devoted to measures specifically targeted at improving the situation of NEETs. However, the most of these measures define eligibility criteria in such a way that programmes are inaccessible to young people from the most disadvantaged groups. Based on field research, it can be argued that one of the few measures that young people from marginalised Roma communities can reach is the activation programme in the form of small-scale municipal services.
This is a programme aimed at “supporting the maintenance of work habits of a long-term unemployed citizen who is a recipient of a benefit in material need”[6]. Even though the activation programme is a standard measure of active labour market policy, the literature is sceptical about the impact of this measure in relation to employment and employability increase of long-term unemployed people. This scepticism is confirmed by the findings of research carried out in Slovakia, which found only minimal and often negative impacts in terms of increasing employment. The most recent evaluation[7]based on quantitative methods found an increase of 1 to 2% in the labour market participation rate of participants compared to non-participants. However, the results of the same evaluation also found that participants in the activation programme in the form of smaller municipal services remain in the system of material need benefits to a greater extent than paired non-participants. The difference in the rate of staying in the system of material need 12 to 18 months after the follow-up period is 3%. The high rate of so-called “parking effect” – i.e., the situation when the participant is parked in some easily accessible measure without the ambition and effort to move the participant to more ambitious and challenging measures –, was also found by the results of the field research.
The qualitative research aimed at identifying the reasons for the low impact of activation in the form of smaller municipal services on employment rates, carried out within the Lost Millennials project, noted several findings, mainly related to misplaced expectations, attitudes of the stakeholder groups, but also the position of the programme in the system of social security and employment services in Slovakia.
A defining characteristic of the activation programme for the long-term unemployed implemented in Slovakia is its link with the system of material need benefits. The programme is open only to the long-term unemployed who live in a household receiving material need benefits. Participants receive an activation allowance of EUR 74,5 per month for their participation in the programme. A long-term unemployed person who does not live in a household receiving material hardship benefit cannot participate in the programme. Thus, only the poorest group of the population is included in the programme, which significantly stigmatises the performance of the programme and shifts it towards ethnic homogeneity, with the result that Roma people are 7 times more likely to be included in the programme than non-Roma people[8]. On the other hand, the interest among potential participants in the participation is high, as it is the only way to legally increase the income of a household in a situation of material need. According to the legislation in force, the programme can only be implemented by local or regional municipality or by organisations established by them, which also has a significant influence on the selection of participants in the programme. This limitation offers opportunities for the local government to abuse its dominant position and manipulate potential participants[9].
Another problem is the isolation of the programme and the weak links between the programme and other support services. The integration of a variety of support services and the implementation of assistance in the form of case management is a major challenge in Slovakia. The activation programme is not accompanied by any systematic support for the individual. The structure of active labour market policy measures disproportionately focuses on employment incentives at the expense of capacity building activities for the individual, while employment incentives measures are usually designed to support the needs of jobseekers who are best prepared to enter the labour market and are almost unattainable for the category of job seekers participating in the activation work. As one of the qualitative research respondents stated “you either participate in activation work, which is done in such a way that you don’t learn a lot, or you are an employee where you are supposed to know everything already. There is nothing in between.”
Attitudes and situations of the participants themselves are also a frequent barrier to achieving better employment outcomes. They have long been in a situation of intergenerational poverty and in their experience of the labour market, they often encounter precarious working conditions, unpaid wages and other negative situations that they are unable to defend themselves against, and therefore, they fear any change. Many participants also live in areas with very poor public transport services, making commuting very difficult, and prefer to work in their own village, which is unrealistic in many cases. For many participants, especially mothers of young children, joining a municipal activation work programme is the most suitable solution to reconcile parental responsibilities with the possibility of at least a partial increase in income through the activation allowance. A large proportion of programme participants are also in debt and face deductions if they receive income from employment. The net income from employment may, therefore, not be substantially higher for them than the income from the material need allowance combined with the activation allowance. Remaining in the system of material need is therefore a rational solution for them.
Field research also points out that the chance of employment increases proportionally with the complexity of the tasks performed during the activation programme. The tasks carried out under activation work are usually narrowed down to unskilled jobs as such sweeping the streets, watering greenery, snow removal, low-skilled jobs in the maintenance of buildings and grounds or in the processing and disposal of waste – the added value of which is minimal. For tasks involving more sophisticated activities (e.g., operating some machine), the chance of entering the labour market increases. The problem remains, however, that even given the barriers mentioned above, the shift is often towards the informal labour market, which is more pronounced in the case of men among young people aged 25-29.
Thus, based on the field research, it can be concluded that although participation in the activation programme in the form of small-scale municipal services, as currently implemented, has almost no impact on improving the employment and employability of participants aged 25-29. It is one of the few measures that young people from the MRC can reach, while the portfolio of support measures lacks services which are designed specifically for young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.
Nevertheless, the research carried out highlights that the activation programme in the form of smaller municipal services has the potential to play an important role in the preparation and entry of long-term unemployed jobseekers. However, this can only be fulfilled where the activation programme is implemented as part of a broader and longer-term support. Given the results of the field research, it can be concluded that this aspect of the programme remains untapped in the long term.
Prepared by Zuzana Polačková, Slovak Business Agency
Lost Millennials project
[1]Markovič, F. Plachá, Ľ. (2021). Income and living conditions in marginalised Roma communities: selected indicators from the survey EU SILC_MRK 2020, Office of the Government, Bratislava, available HERE
[2]Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic (2019). Atlas of Roma communities, available HERE
[3]Markovič, F. Plachá, Ľ. (2021)
[4]Vaňo, B. (2002): Forecast of the development of the Roma population in the Slovak Republic until 2025, Infostat – Institute of Informatics and Statistics, Demographic Research Centre,, Bratislava, availableHERE
[5]LMP expenditure by type of action (online data code: LMP_EXPSUMM)
[6]See §52 of the Act 5/2004 Coll. on Employment Services
[7]Petráš, J (2020). Activation work does not activate the inactive, Analysis of the net efficiency of smaller municipal services (MOS), Institute of Social Policy, Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava, availableHERE
[8]Mýtna Kureková, L., Salner, A. & Farenzenová, M. (2013). Implementation of Activation Works in Slovakia: Evaluation and Recommendations for Policy Change. Final Report. SGI, Bratislava, available HERE
[9]situations have been reported where only participants who were loyal to the local government leadership were involved
