Policy of the Standard of Living in the First Decade of Socialism in Yugoslavia

Abstract

One of the key questions of historiography is how people in a certain period lived, where they dwelt, how much they earned and spent etc. The question concerns the standard of living and the quality of life of individuals and society in a specific historical period. The author examines the standard of living in Yugoslavia/Slovenia in the first period after the Second World War, which was marked by industrialization. The standard of living reflected the current economic policy, and was part of it. The political and economic conditions in the first post-war decade did not favour any improvement in the standard of living. The reasons for this were ideological, political and, above all, practical. They derived from the pre-war economic situation, the consequences of the war and the post-war economic policy. Apart from these, the standard of living in that period was considerably affected and determined by the rift with the Cominform and the economic consequences thereof. A change in the government's attitude towards the standard of living came in the mid 1950's, with the political decision to put a greater emphasis on the quality of life in Yugoslavia.