2024-07-16 09:51:10
Those seeking help are turned away from institutions
A sociological study conducted in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia revealed that 45 thousand Divorced Lithuanians can be called “invisible” because, although they work hard, they still do not meet the criteria for receiving social assistance. This “invisibility” of theirs is due to their low level of education and poor financial literacy – not having confidence in social guarantees, they find themselves in the shadow economy, and therefore receive lower incomes.
It is also observed that low-educated divorcees have lower self-esteem and find it difficult to maintain good relationships or emotional connection with other people because they are usually afraid of being hurt again. However, according to the authors of the study, opening up to the world and new experiences would improve their emotional well-being and at the same time provide opportunities to earn more.
Renata Stanislavavičienė, a social worker at the Family Crisis Center of the Kaunas City Social Services Center, confirms that perhaps the most common problem of divorced women with low education is self-doubt.
“There is a lack of self-advocacy. They are timid when it comes to applying to an institution or joining a community. It is very difficult especially for those who have experienced male violence. The lack of self-esteem also hinders job searches – they imagine that they are worthless, will not get any job, will not be able to work. Also, it is difficult for them to fit into the work team, if it is larger,” says the specialist.
Monika Melytė, the social worker of the child and family welfare center of the Joniškis district who coordinates preventive social services, notes that such women are very vulnerable due to low self-esteem, lost confidence, and they often face negative attitudes of the society towards them.
“It happens that they receive negative comments from the environment, face belittling, insulting words that “you don’t do anything, you’re worthless”. And this further undermines their self-confidence and motivation to change something in their lives,” she said.
According to M. Melytė, self-doubt interferes with the desire to receive social assistance. “Often at work we encounter those “invisible” people who, even when necessary, do not apply to institutions, do not go to medical institutions, etc. Well, for example, a person knows that his identity document expired several years ago, but he does not apply anywhere…
For such persons, it is necessary that the employee registers them in treatment or other institutions, accompanies them, helps clarify the current situation and informs them in an understandable language about the possible ways of solving problems. Often these are socially vulnerable persons who find it difficult to be responsible themselves due to low education, lack of knowledge, lack of confidence, health problems, sometimes negative attitude of society, “writing off” such people, the social worker notes.
Early pregnancies get in the way
The study also revealed that divorced individuals with low education are less likely to pursue new skills. This problem is especially acute among people aged 45-64 – as many as 68 percent. they indicated that they did not participate in any training, and those who did did so for the sake of a certificate or because such training was mandatory at work. Also, the interviewees stated that they did not need creative, cognitive, learning or foreign language skills at work, which shows that they mostly worked in less qualified jobs.
R. Stanislavavičienė tends to agree with the conclusions of the study. “Here again, it all comes back to that lack of self-confidence. There are many opportunities for learning, we offer adult training for women in centers where education can be obtained in part-time ways. But they don’t trust themselves, they say, “I’m not going to study here, I won’t be able to, I won’t be able to,” she said.
And it is precisely low education that often becomes a very big obstacle to finding a job. According to R. Stanislavavičienė, even creating a resume (CV) becomes another new test for these women.
“When I help women look for job ads, I also help them create a CV. And I can see that just creating a CV is another blow to their self-esteem. When it comes to filling out the education section, they shy away from saying that they only have a basic education or that they only completed grades 7-8. The most common problem of school dropout is early pregnancy.
A very common case in my work practice is when women raise children and men work. It doesn’t matter what kind of men these men are – whether they are abusers or addicts, but they support families and women imagine that their lives will always be like this – they will raise children, take care of the house. But if men leave them, they don’t know what to do anymore, because they need to raise children and work, which is a huge challenge for them,” the social worker shared her experience.
However, Jolanta Vyšniauskienė, the deputy director of the social services center of the city of Kaunas for social affairs, notices that sometimes some divorced people with low education are simply not motivated to work.
“It is possible to find a job in Kaunas, but they say, ‘I won’t go and work for a thousand.’ This is already a problem of the person’s own motivation. They are directed to all kinds of projects, workplaces, they are given help in preparing their CV, but if a person does not want to work, we cannot force him”, she says.
At that time, the authors of the study point out that such persons tend to look for a new job through acquaintances – friends or relatives (58%). As a rule, they do not send resumes, do not participate in job interviews.
Inhuman workload of social workers
It is also noticeable that these people pay too little attention to their emotional well-being. Even 25 percent they indicated that they have no one to rely on in life (typical average – 6%) and feel lonely and not needed by anyone. Most divorcees live alone (46%) or with children (36%) and have to take care of their home alone, which makes them feel even more pressure and tend to blame themselves more than they should for all the problems.
According to J. Vyšniauskienė, although efforts are made to provide various support to divorced persons – food, various consultations, legal services, etc. – after all, psychotherapy is still a luxury. “We only have 2 psychologists in our family department and we work with over 600 families in total – so we can’t meet all the needs,” she says.
R. Stanislavavičienė also agrees with it. “There is a great need for greater access to quality psychological services. And not one consultation per month, as is now usually “officially” prescribed. Women are in great need of psychological help. Although it seems that there are many of them, because there are various help lines, but what is needed is precisely quality services, where one psychologist works with that woman for a long time in order to establish a relationship with her and help her as best as possible”, said the social worker.
At that time, M. Melytė believes that the number of social workers should be increased. 95 percent marginalized people need support so that a social worker accompanies them everywhere until they gain self-confidence and can be responsible for themselves.
“It is heartbreaking to leave such people behind, because we come across cases where people are very ‘invisible’ and neglected, for example, they are not given participation levels, although it is obvious that the person has a problem. We always mediate, accompany to the doctors, talk, support the person in this complex process”, said the specialist.
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Every fifth Lithuanian is “invisible”, because no one notices the weight and deep traces of their problems. Invisible People is a social project to help them be seen. More about the project and the “invisibility” test: www.nematomizmones.lt
2024-07-16 09:51:10