For many years already the City of Rijeka has been supporting its citizens who due to illness, long-term unemployment and similar difficult life circumstances are threatened by poverty and social exclusion and therefore need our assistance.

In addition to the right to assistance when settling housing costs and costs of meal services at the soup kitchen, many other rights and types of assistance are available in Rijeka.

We settle part of their housing costs, costs of meal services, certain medical and social services, where necessary, and urban public transport services. We enable our youngest citizens to attend nursery schools and kindergartens, while older children may join extended-day and full day school programmes and we provide them with textbooks and school supplies. To persons living alone, who are also beneficiaries of the guaranteed minimum compensation, we annually assign subsidies thus allowing them to buy a household appliance that they need in an easier manner. We provide additional assistance to pensioners and older people without any income granting them monthly subsidies. We are ready to assist our citizens in various life events, such as a birth or a death of a family member.

With all these social measures, we primarily endeavour to mitigate the consequences of difficult life circumstances and encourage citizens so that in the future they may independently face life challenges and contribute to the growth and development of our city.

The rights included in the social welfare programme provided by the City of Rijeka to socially disadvantaged citizens, both those laid down by the Law, and those above the standards laid down by the Law, conditions and manners of their realisation and the procedure for realising such rights have been laid down by the Decision on Social Welfare of the City of Rijeka.

Moreover, many institutions and associations in Rijeka offer various social services, as well as lay support to particularly vulnerable citizen groups in order to prevent social exclusion of these groups. Owing to budgetary co-financing of the City of Rijeka, a vast majority of the mentioned services and programmes are provided to beneficiaries free of charge.

In accordance with the Decision on Social Welfare, at the beginning of every year, the mayor brings in conclusions about the amounts of every subsidy determined by the Decision on Social Welfare.