The master thesis explores the relation between institutional barriers and the exercise of social rights. In this respect, the theoretical part of the thesis deals with inequality and poverty, where the focus has been on how people's attitudes towards poverty and the provision of assistance have changed from the fourteenth century up to the present day. So, the attitudes towards poverty have been studied in relation to measuring of the poverty, defining the poverty line and social exclusion. In further consideration, the legislation of the social security system and the exercise of social rights have been analysed, indicating the list of the social rights which were subsequently used by the interviewees, as well as the process of acquiring these rights. The next part considers the minimum wage and the concept of quality of life, where the role of an individual and institutions in the welfare state have been defined. In this part of the thesis the institutional barriers and incentives as well as the role of the state as an institution have been defined in more detail. The last section in the theoretical part deals with human rights that protect an individual and society as a whole. The theoretical part is followed by an empirical part, which is based on qualitative research. The purpose of qualitative research is to determine the consequences of institutional barriers to the exercise of social rights. In this respect, eleven semi-structured interviews have been conducted with open-ended questions focusing on an individual’s user experience with institutions. Individuals talk about their user experience in the Employment Service of Slovenia, Centre for Social Work, Psychiatric Clinic Ljubljana and the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia. The obtained data were analysed with the Open Coding method, where we have arrived to the conclusion of the master thesis.
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