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RODA: Mothers with High Salaries Worth Less to the Government

Hej.hr

02 July 2004

RODA Association

The RODA association (RODitelji u Akciji � Parents� Action) expressed its surprise at the comments of the Members of Parliament from the ruling HDZ, during the debate in the Sabor, that the amount of maternity leave compensation for the first six months should not be delimited, having in mind that there are few women with high salaries, therefore, they don�t impact the birth-rates in Croatia in any significant fashion.

"After all the years of discrimination supported by all Governments, including the SDP, the public recognition that the rights of women are violated but those violations are considered insignificant, since it is a small, ergo insignificant group, is just outrageous,� says the public release by RODA.

RODA emphasizes that, were it true that the number of women with salaries over 4,250 Kuna is that small, the funds necessary for their compensation shouldn�t be too large, which dismisses the argument that the Government can�t provide the money for them.

There is no upper limit in terms of salary tax that goes into the Budget (except in terms of the allocations for the first level of retirement insurance). The tax rates are progressive and depend on the income of the tax-payers.

However, when it is your turn to use the funds from the Budget in which you already invested, there is a limit and you can�t get to compensation higher than 4,250 Kuna. In addition to being discriminatory, this manner of compensation puts the women in the higher salary levels in front of a decision to keep smaller families or to return to their jobs after a short maternity leave, says the release.

It is quite logical that the majority of families will think twice before deciding to have a second child.

A survey conducted last year showed that the burning issues of the Croatian demographics are childless families or families with one child. This makes the statements of the Members of the Sabor completely unfounded. Furthermore, the elimination of upper limits for the maternity leave compensation will definitely help the lagging birth rates, and would contribute to the equal status of all mothers, concludes RODA.