The Emigration Problem of the Population of the Republic of Croatia: Opinions of Emigrants about the Causes and Consequences of Emigration

Cilj ovog završnog rada bio je proučiti povijest i problematiku valova iseljavanja stanovništva Republike Hrvatske koji neprestano traje već desetljećima. Rad polazi od činjenica da loša ekonomska i/ili politička situacija od prije Prvog svjetskog rata potiče hrvatski narod na napuštanje svoje zemlje. Pregledane su demografske mjere 14. Vlade Republike Hrvatske i komuniciranje mjera. Napravljen je pregled medijskih objava o ostavci bivšeg državnog tajnika u Ministarstvu za demografiju, obitelj, mlade i socijalnu politiku, Marina Strmote. Za potrebe pisanja rada, provedeno je istraživanje čiji je cilj bio istražiti razloge masovnog iseljavanja stanovništva Republike Hrvatske. Nastojalo se ispitati iz kojih dijelova Hrvatske ljudi najviše emigriraju, u koje države odlaze, iz kojih razloga te smatraju li kvalitetu života boljom u inozemstvu od one u Hrvatskoj. Za istraživanje je korištena kvantitativna metoda, provedena je anketa u kojoj je sudjelovalo 1048 hrvatskih emigranata. Analiza je pokazala da je najveći razlog emigracije nada u bolju budućnost za njihovu djecu i njih same. Veliki dio ispitanika također je naveo da su emigrirali iz raznih političkih razloga, ali i da su vodeći problemi bili premali prihodi i nezaposlenost. Najveći broj ispitanih iselio je s područja istočne Hrvatske.The purpose of this thesis was to study history and problems of emigration waves of the population of the Republic of Croatia that have been ongoing for decades. The thesis starts from the fact that poor economic and/or political situations, present before the beginning of World War Ⅰ, have been forcing Croatian people to leave their homeland. Demographic measures of the Fourteenth Government of the Republic of Croatia and communication of those measures have been reviewed. The thesis also contains a review about media announcements dealing with the resignation of Marin Strmota, the former State secretary of the Ministry of Demographics, Family, Youth and Social Policy. For the purposes of writing this thesis, a survey was conducted. The survey’s main goal was to examine the mass emigration causes of the population of Croatia. An effort has been made to examine from which Croatian regions the majority of the population emigrates, which countries they emigrate to, the reasons for emigration, and whether examinees find the quality of life better in the emigration than in Croatia. A quantitative method was used for the research; a survey that included 1.048 Croatian emigrants was conducted. The analysis showed that the most significant reason for emigration was hope for a better future for their children and themselves. A great number of examinees stated that they emigrated because of various political reasons, but also due to small incomes and unemployment. Most of the examinees emigrated from Eastern Croatia