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One of the main changes in the Slovak society after the 'Velvet Revolution' in 1989 concerns the relationship of the state and the social security of its citizens. The consequences of these changes have been influenced by many factors. On the first place there is the preparedness or better to say non-preparedness of people to accept changes in thinking and life philosophy. People that used to live in socialist system with certain social benefits have been forced to cope with the new reality of fighting for their own existence. The situation have been becoming much worse after the year 1998 due to the present government establishing the notion of a state being not very much responsible for the social benefits of its own citizens. Compared to European Union the situation in Slovakia is much more problematical and serious because of the rapid social and economical changes a country in transition is not able to cope with. It is the problem of vertical and horizontal marginalisation of the society. European Union also considers the problem of poverty to be a serious one, so in the authoress opinion Slovak Republic should become a part of the struggle against it.