As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian women are giving birth later and later in life, and there are more and more young women who simply don’t want children at all. The reason for this, among many other personal ones, could be the fact that children are simply ridiculously expensive. Raising children in Croatia, while more favourable economically than some other countries, still doesn’t come anywhere close to cheap.
Issues that people take into account when thinking about parenting concern the overall uncertainty, growing debt, poor housing markets and the labour market situation, and even climate change.
How much does it cost to raise children in Croatia? According to the data gathered by the Stedopis association, at least 460,000 kuna is needed to get a child into a decent faculty, and along with studying, those related costs rise to more than 630,000 kuna. However, this is only an estimate because there has been no real in depth research on this topic, nor is there a calculator to calculate the costs involved to raise children in Croatia, unlike in America, where people can estimate how much raising their child will cost, and as such plan more accurately.
Pregnancy and the first year of a child’s life in Croatia
Expectant parents will start spending cash on their child before it even enters the world. It’s necessary to buy their first clothes, buy a baby cot/crib, purchase a good stroller, buy a baby bath tub, a changing table and diapers for the first days of their lives. One mother told Stedopis that she spent 30,000 kuna in the first year of her child’s life alone. She claims that she used preloved equipment, that is, that she only bought a stroller and a crib.
The price of one diaper/nappy ranges from 1 to 1.50 kuna, and five to ten a day are needed. If we take into account that most Croatian parents buy cheaper diapers, at the price of one single kuna per piece, and the child requires five of those per day (which isn’t all that realistic, especially in the first weeks when more than five are needed), then you can set aside a minimum of 1825 kuna per year just for diapers. If the mother isn’t breastfeeding, she will also need to purchase formula, the price of which is 50 kuna or more, depending on the weight and age of the baby.
Preschoolers
In addition to clothing and cosmetics, the child’s parents may also need to finance a crèche, a kindergarten, as well as various activities. This means that by primary school age, parents can spend up to 150 thousand kuna per child.
Elementary school students
When the child starts attending school, they will need a school bag and accessories, which costs about a thousand kuna in total. One family calculated for they spend around 27 thousand kuna a year on their elementary school student. So, up to the 12th year of a child’s life, parents raising children in Croatia will need to invest an additional 135 thousand kuna per child. These include a desk, chair, a larger, more age approproiate bed, a computer (tablet), school meals, extracurricular activities, school trips, birthdays, pocket money, clothes and shoes, and so on.
Teenagers
The minimum alimony for 2022, for a child aged 13 to 18, is 1,568.38 kuna per month, but that sum isn’t even close enough to meet all the costs (and needs) of teenagers.
“The costs in the third and fourth grade of high school is the highest because you have to pay for their prom trip, maybe also the preparations for the prom, the prom dinner, the formal clothes. Even if a basic visit to the dentist and an ophthalmologist ends with a recommendation for orthodontic braces and/or glasses, then that’s an additional 14 thousand kuna in one go. In short, a parent with a child between the age of 13 to 18 will need to spend a minimum of 180 thousand kuna. In previous years, the amount reached 465 thousand kuna,” they say from Stedopis.
Students
The EUROSTUDENT VII report published back in 2021 revealed that the total semester costs of studying per student in the Republic of Croatia average 16,593 kuna, or 33,186 kuna per year. These amounts include the cost of living and studying. During five years of study, that sum can quite easily reach a massive 165,930 kuna.
When we add it all up, to raise children in Croatia, parents have to set aside a minimum of 630,930 kuna per child to pay for all of their needs by the end of their college education.
For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.
