Serbian birthrates languish

20/01/2011

Many say they cannot afford children, and the cash-strapped government has only scarce funds available to provide assistance.

By Biljana Pekusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 20/01/11

Serbia has one of the lowest rates in Europe. [Reuters]

In terms of the number of children born each year, Serbia is close to the bottom among European countries. The country currently has a negative population growth rate of minus 3.5%.

The stagnating birth rate will soon cause one of the oldest municipalities in Serbia, Crna Trava, to die out. Each year only around ten babies (eight in 2010) are born in the town, while the average number of deaths is 80 annually. Similar examples can be found across Serbia.

Some couples say economic woes are the reason. "We cannot afford children because my husband and I make less than 200 euros a month," 24-year-old Svetlana Miladinovic, from Knjazevac in eastern Serbia, told SETimes.

"Rent is 50 euros and little remains for the two of us. What would happen if we had a child? A pair of children's shoes costs at least 20 euros, and then there are clothes, food, school and other expenses," she said.

Two years ago, the state officially adopted a strategy for turning the demographic tide. But the assistance it offers is limited. New parents receive a single payment of 300 euros for their first child, upon birth. For a second, third or fourth child, the grant is even lower, and distributed over 24 installments.

The government simply cannot afford to do more, says Minister of Labour and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic. Without enough funds in the budget, it can only provide a minimal amount of maternity leave and other aid.

"Only some 200,000 families receive a allowance for the children's and 61,000 families receive a parents' allowance," he said. "The percentage of child poverty is higher than for adults. Nearly 10% of under age children live under the poverty level."

According to Vladimir Jesic, founder of the child's portal "Bebac", key steps are not being taken.

"Inspectors need to start doing their job and penalise employers who lay off expecting mothers," he said. "Health service must better organise, so that pregnant women do not pay doctors for childbirth, and kindergartens should co-ordinate their hours with parents' working hours. But the state does nothing to help the parents."

In the absence of sufficient state funds, it falls to the municipalities to cover the childcare gap, and only the larger and wealthier ones are able to do so. Belgrade, for instance, still pays 100% maternity leave -- the only city in Serbia where this is the case.

Meanwhile, the town of Jagodina plans to launch an unusual incentive for potential parents. Any couple that decides to marry will receive a gift of 3,000 euros, but only if one of the partners is older than 38.

And there's a string attached: they must give birth to a baby within a set time frame.

"If the couple do not stay together for five years, or have no child in this period, they will have to repay the money, with interest," explains mayor Dragan Markovic Palma.

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/01/20/feature-03