An association gathering families with three or more children expressed on Saturday their support for government measures aimed at promoting the demographic revitalisation of Croatia, noting that the measures were insufficient and that it was high time for three-plus families to be included in the government strategy.

“Those making a direct contribution to population growth should be included in the preparation of measures,” the association ‘Obitelji Tri Plus’ said in a statement.

Many of the planned measures were welcome, they said, such as increasing maternity pay for the second half of the year on maternity leave and introducing paternal leave, but that the issue should be approached more systematically.

“One-off or one-year benefits will not help increase the number of children. That will be achieved only by the certainty and awareness of individuals that the government monitors and helps families at all levels,” the activists warned.

“Here we have in mind first and foremost a radical change of tax policy to benefit families with three or more children, as well as different subsidies which families with several children need, such as subsidies for purchasing adequate cars and scholarships for secondary-school and university students from large families.”

The association said that one of the measures should be delimitation of the existing pro-natalist monthly bonus of 500 Kuna (€67.5) for a third and fourth child, and added that parents throughout the country who have three or more children should be awarded the status of carer parent, based on the model that is in place in Zagreb.

According to the latest census, 112,830 families in Croatia have three or more children, 319,658 have two children, and 435,192 are single-child families.