Croatian town pays grandparents amid health-care shortages

A CROATIAN town has come up with a novel solution to solve the dilemma of working parents when there are no public child-care spaces available: pay grandparents to do it.

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Samobor, near the capital Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service”, which pays €360 a month per child.

The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages.

“The benefits are multiple,” Samobor’s mayor, Petra Skrobot, said.

“Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes difficult to find adequate care for children.

“We wanted to give the parents the possibility to choose the type of care for their children.”

In Croatia, most women use 12 months of maternity leave, though state-funded child care is available from the age of six months until the child enrols at primary school at age six.