President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and Demography Minister Nada Murganic said on Monday they were pleased with today's session of the Demographic Revitalisation Council which discussed, among other things, work on Sundays, cutting costs for families with more children, and the protection of pregnant women.

Plenkovic announced a call for new applications for subsidising young families’ housing loans in autumn.

He said the president’s population measures, first presented three weeks ago, “contribute to enhancing the population policy, dealing with the negative birth rate, and changing the social climate concerning the population policy.”

He said many of the president’s proposals were endorsed today.

“Those measures are complementary with what the government is doing and we will continue to cooperate,” he said.

Speaking of the government’s activities to deal with accelerating population drain, Plenkovic mentioned the tax reform that went into force on 1 January 2017 and the fact that another 150,000 children were eligible for children’s allowance.

He said the government was considering the possibility of introducing a so-called family card which would give families various benefits and lower costs on many services.

“Opinion polls show that young families in Croatia wish to have more children… The problem is not whether a family wants children, whether women wish to give birth, but in creating conditions in which that can be achieved,” president Grabar-Kitarovic said.

She said she was especially pleased with the government’s measures to raise the threshold of the second part of parental allowances. “I know that’s financially challenging but, as I’ve said, investing in people is indeed investing in the future.”

“I’m glad we have sparked the public’s interest and involvement and I hope we will continue to work together not just in the debate on the demographic situation, but in solutions and a positive campaign of raising awareness in society of the possibilities Croatia offers and will offer for young people to stay and return after gaining experience in other countries,” said the president.

Minister Murganic said the president’s measures were a “living document” in which the government recognised all the activities it “has started or which have progressed.”

The government and the president would continue to work on upgrading their joint programme so that the society as a whole can recover. 

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