The issue of poverty in socialism opens a broad context of social inequality, as poverty is only one form of social differentiation. This article does not analyze Marxist principles or the genesis of Marxist thought on poverty and social differences, as this is a separate topic. This article is a case study and aims to explain the social circumstances, conceptual background, and practices in socialist Slovenia as part of Yugoslavia, that led to the emergence of peasant poverty, its official recognition, and, consequently, social policies to alleviate it. The Yugoslav context appears in the background, where the stance toward social differences is presented through the declarations of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. These were congress declarations that provided only general guidelines. Owing to the far-reaching decentralization of the Yugoslav state, implementation depended on the individual republics. It is therefore not possible to speak of a single Yugoslav context, but rather of six, corresponding to the six Yugoslav republics. Each republic constituted its own reality, and each addressed the problems of poverty according to its own economic and social structure. The differences in the levels of economic and social development among the republics were considerable. Slovenia was the most developed part of Yugoslavia. What united the Yugoslav republics was a uniform design of the political system. Owing to the ideological design of the system, the path regarding recognition of poverty was neither quick nor easy in all parts of the country. For most postwar decades, poverty was not part of the authorities’ official narrative. While the term poverty was absent, social inequalities or social differences (as a substitute) were the subject of public debate, especially from the 1960s.

The fundamental premise of the socialist authorities in Slovenia was that work was a universal right and duty, as well as a universal solution to all kinds of human problems. This defined the economic and social policies. They assumed equality for all. The prevailing ideological concept was that the socialist system was the path to a prosperous society in the future. Therefore, issues of poverty are rarely discussed. Visible poverty was perceived as a remnant of the past, as a “contradiction of social development,” and as a temporary and exceptional phenomenon. The prevailing belief was that accelerated economic development, the abolition of private property, and full employment were sufficient to eliminate it. Simultaneously, the state heavily subsidized necessities and various services (housing, education, and social welfare). The socialization of individual needs, combined with low wages, led to apparent equality among most of the population. However, poverty still exists \. Veljko Rus wrote that the idea that poverty could be eliminated once and for all by abolishing private property and rapid industrial development was a great delusion. Socialist systems tended toward the global equalization of social groups rather than dealing with the partial prevention of impoverishment of the lowest strata. Global equalization was made possible by widespread nationalization (including the abolition of private property), limiting income differences, eliminating unemployment (full employment), and a system of social benefits. Although all these policies were consistently implemented, social inequalities in socialist countries were noticeable and politically disruptive. The same applies to socialist Slovenia. Although Slovenia’s situation after World War II, as beeing part of Yugoslavia, differed somewhat from that of the countries of the so-called Soviet bloc, the differences in many areas were only subtle. The issue of poverty was treated in a very similar way, as the political systems had the same foundations, and poverty or prosperity was one of the most sensitive areas for proving the legitimacy of the communist ideolog