While measures to combat Croatia's population drain are merely talked about on the national level, local authorities are already trying to tackle the issue in a more substantial way.

According to recent research published by the website Gradonacelnik.hr, over the past 12 months 51 cities across the country have increased their one-off subsidies paid for families’ first child, 63 cities for every second child in the family, and 67 cities for every third child born.

Since this year, 26 Croatian city authorities starting paying out 3,000 kuna (€400) or more for every first child born into the family, with the small town of Opatija on the northern Adriatic paying out the most generous subsidy of 10,000 kuna. Along with the eastern city of Slavonski Brod, which pays out 2,500 kuna and 5,000 kuna worth of baby care equipment, these two cities also broke the record for the biggest increases in 2016.

Opatija also broke the record in increase to subsidy for every second child, by 9,500 kuna, followed by the town of Pag on the eponymous island, which raised it by 8,000 kuna. In terms of subsidies for a third child, Croatia’s second city of Split broke the record by raising the amount from 3,000 to 55,000 kuna (€7,450) in 2016.

Split is followed by Zagreb, which pays out 54,000 kuna for every third child in the family, and the Adriatic town of Crikvenica, at 30,000 kuna.

Only three cities have free kindergartens for all children – the tiny Obrovac and Vrlika in the Dalmatian hinterland, and Umag in Istria. Vrlika also subsidises textbooks for all schoolchildren, as well as transport to and from school.

In the southern Adriatic city of Dubrovnik, the city introduced a series of measures to help young families with housing, including a subsidised housing scheme with protected rents. On the other end of the country in the eastern town of Vukovar, the city co-finances kindergartens and subsidises textbooks, and has started to give out free sneakers to children which are produced at the local shoe factory Borovo. The city has earmarked 15 million kuna for various incentives aimed at helping families with children.

(€1 = 7.38 kuna)

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