National Development Strategy Croatia 2030: Roadmap for a Better Future

Broad areas for policy interventions 
•
Systematically promote a more family-friendly society and facilitate access to employment and decent 
living conditions for young people and couples. 
•
Develop parental leave system that adequately compensates for the opportunity cost of work and al-
lows for more flexibility in the implementation of the parental leave and encourage father’s uptake in 
parental leave. 

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Croatia 2030: Roadmap for a Better Future
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•
Improve access to reproductive services.
•
Promote corporate social responsibilities for children’s rights, including 
enabling mothers to return 
from maternity leave into a safe workplace, respecting parents’ working hours framework and provide 
flexible sick leave to take care of a sick child. 
•
Improve the overall equity of the child allowance system, including through the reform of existing tax 
policies for families with children in order to make it progressive, i.e. distributed in favor of lower 
income families with children.
•
Develop a national policy to encourage in-migration. Liberalize inflow of foreign workers and their 
families. 
Required actions 
•
Pursue investments in kindergarten facilities, staff and services to improve the availability of quality 
and affordable formal childcare services for all families and reduce geographical and income inequal-
ities in access (to be developed in relation to education sector policies). 
•
Improve availability of care services for children and elderly, including through providing support to 
business service providers, in order to decrease unemployment due to care obligations. Introduce in-
centives for employers who provide kindergarten services to their employees. 
•
Increase public awareness about: (i) the importance of promoting the labor market inclusion of women 
and its positive association with fertility; (ii) the necessity to favor gender equality in the distribution 
of child-rearing responsibilities; and (iii) the evidence of the potentially positive effects of formal 
childcare for children 0-3 years old.

Education