Human Development Report - Croatia 2008 Vulnerable Groups^17110.2.5. The elderly
The elderly in Croatia face a direct threat to their health
due to climate events such as heat waves (see Chapter
6). The vulnerability of the elderly to climate change is
also related both to age itself and to the correlation of
advanced age with the incidence of poverty in Croa-
tia. Elderly Croatians face a higher risk of poverty than
the national average (See Figure 10.1 below).^20
Exposure to threats: The elderly face direct threats to
their health as a result of the increased temperatures
during heat waves. While there are gender differences
in the incidence of deaths due to circulatory disease
(women are more likely to die of circulatory disease
in Croatia than men),III research has not yet been
published on the relative risk of heat-related death
by gender. There is also no available research on how
warmer winters might affect mortality patterns in el-
derly Croatians.
The 2006 Quality of Life survey showed that the eco-
nomic situation of people older than 65 in Croatia is
considerably worse than the national average.^21 Con-
sidering that such differences do not exist in most Eu-
ropean countries, special attention was given to the
analysis of this age group.
Almost half of the elderly population has difficulty
in making ends meet. Household equivalent income
for households consisting of elderly people depends
significantly on the area where they live: in rural areas
reported average income was HRK 1250 (EUR 170) and
in urban areas it was HRK 2250 (EUR 308). The national
average for all age groups in 2006 was HRK 2200 (EUR
301).^22 Elderly people living without pensions and
without compensatory family support are in especial-
ly difficult positions.^23
Capacity to respond: Elderly Croatians living in pov-
erty face additional difficulties in adapting to extreme
weather events, such as heat waves (e.g. they lack
the means to travel to a cooler place or to afford air
conditioning in a heat wave). In addition, the elderly
may have to stretch pensions (or – in households not
receiving a pension – other savings or resources) to
cover increased prices for food, electricity and other
products that may result from climate change.10.2.6. MigrationThe potential for migration related to climate change
is an issue that has been discussed primarily at global
and regional levels. Research and policy discussions
to date have focused on the potential immigration of
environmental refugees to Europe from other parts of
the world,^24 general migration issues in other coun-
tries due to extreme climate events,^25 and on the po-
tential trade and development implications of insta-
bility in other world regions due to climate-induced
migration.^26 However, there has been no research on
internal migration within Croatia – or on internal mi-
gration within Europe – due to the environmental or
economic effects of climate change.2,01,51,00,50Relative Risk of PovertyAge-14 15-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+0,8 0,8
0,50,81,21,7Figure 10-1: Relative risk of poverty* in the Croatia by
age.*Relative risk of poverty represents the proportion
between the rate of poverty of a specific (age) group and
the general rate, which refers to the entire society. When
the risk of poverty is higher than 1, this means that a
specific group has an above average risk of poverty, and
if it is lower than 1, then there is a below average risk of
poverty. For example, if the risk of poverty of a group
is 1.7, it means that this group has a 70% higher risk of
poverty than the entire population. III Crostat, 2008: 21. However, other country-specific reports on
heat-related deaths have identified more male deaths – further
Source: UNDP Croatia 2007: 121. study is clearly needed.