Perceptions Concerning Poverty and Social Protection: a Comparative Approach

The article aims to present, in a comparative manner, the perceptions of older persons from Central and Est European Countries (CEE) concerning poverty and specific areas related to social protection (e.g. the healthcare system, the pension system). Due to transformations associated with the growth in the number of older persons and the increase of life expectancy, research on elderly and socio-economic aspects related to them are of great interest across Europe. The capacity of an old person to live an independent and autonomous life is affected by the prevalence of pathologies associated with the old age, with direct effects regarding the need for social and socio-medical services. The data reflecting the perceptions are collected under the Special Eurobarometer 81.5 (2014) and the analysis indicates some dissimilarities between the perceptions expressed by the respondents of the countries under assessment in this article. Countries included in this analysis are: Romania, Bulgaria, CzeCh Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia.