Democratic Montenegro submitted to the parliament the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Social and Child Protection, which proposes an increase in the one-time allowance for a newborn child.
"The first-born, the second-born, the third-born, the fourth-born and every one after that," said Boris Bogdanović, the head of the Democrat parliamentary group, in a statement delivered to "Vijesta".
According to the Democrats' proposal, the compensation for a newborn child would amount to: 1.000 euros for the first-born child, 1.500 for the second-born, 2.000 for the third-born, and 2.500 euros for the fourth-born and each subsequent child.
Bogdanović said that this represents a concrete measure that should contribute to the improvement of material conditions for "covering the basic living expenses of every newborn child, as a new member of our society".
The Democrats offered the bill to the rest of the parliamentary majority.
"According to the announcement of the Administration for Statistics of Cme Gora - MONSTAT, the number of new-born children is the lowest in the last more than 70 years and in 2023 will be 7002, which, as we said, is the lowest ever recorded birth rate. The 'white plague' is present in 16 municipalities where a negative natural increase was recorded. Most of them are in the north of Montenegro, which has been suffering from depopulation for decades, but the municipalities in the southern and central regions - Herceg Novi, Cetinje, Danilovgrad and Nikšić - point out Bogdanović.
"The worst balance in absolute numbers was recorded by Pljevlja and Nikšić -259 and -165, while the highest natural increase was recorded in Podgorica and Budva - 978 and 188. According to data in January 2024, there were 617 live births, 655 deaths, which means that the natural increase at the beginning of this year amounted to -38", he notes.
Bogdanović said that the stated reasons confirm the justification of increasing the amount of one-time compensation for a newborn child.
"We continue to improve the social position of the citizens of Montenegro and we remind you that the Democrats previously proposed raising the allowance for newborns from 102 to 900 euros," concludes Bogdanović.
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