Croatia's bold move: Doubling support for new parents amid birth decline
In response to the observed decrease in the number of births in Croatia, the local ministry plans to double the financial support for families with newborn children and reduce the required retirement age for mothers proportional to the number of their children, reports Index.
2:31 PM EDT, July 25, 2024
According to data presented by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, in 2023, the country experienced a further drop in births, registering only 32,047 births. This is a noticeable decline of over 5% compared to the previous year when the number of births was higher by 2,000. A Croatian portal conveyed this information, emphasizing that the demographic situation remains concerning despite a slight population increase of 11,079 people last year.
Croatia has a plan to overcome the crisis
In response to the crisis, the Croatian Ministry of Demographics, the first such institution within the European Union, announced a plan to double the one-time support for families with newborn children—from the current 300 dollars to 650 dollars by 2025.
Ivan Szipić, the minister responsible for demographics in Croatia, also announced that women will be able to retire a year earlier for each child, and fathers will be granted extended paternity leave.
These measures are a response to a severe demographic problem, which has become one of the critical topics of public debate in Croatia. The government, which began functioning in April this year, created the Ministry of Demographics to focus on combating the declining natural population growth. Statistics show that the country’s population has been continuously decreasing since 1991. Croatia had 4.8 million inhabitants at that time, and by 2021, a decline of around 900,000 people was recorded.
