Population policy measures in the Republic of Croatia from 1990 to 2016 with reference to the selected EU countries

U ovom radu razmatramo problematiku demografskih trendova te uslijed toga razvoj populacijske politke u Hrvatskoj. Cilj ovog rada je dobiti uvid u sliku demografskih kretanja u Hrvatskoj, čimbenike koji su utjecali na određena kretanja te mjere koje su poduzete kako bi aktualna demografska kretanja krenula u pozitivnom smjeru. U Hrvatskoj stopa fertiliteta primjetno pada još 1960-ih godina, a 1995. godine prirodni prirast preuzima negativan predznak. Od 1991. do 1995. godine u Hrvatskoj traje Domovinski rat što produbljuje negativne demografske trendove te sveopće stanje u društvu koje će ostaviti dugoročne posljedice. Netom nakon završetka rata, 1996. političke vlasti donose prvi od tri programa populacijske politike, Nacionalni program demografskog razvitka. Sljedeća je donesena Nacionalna obiteljska politika, 2002. godine, a posljednja, Nacionalna populacijska politika 2006. godine. Unatoč ambicioznim ciljevima i optimističnim očekivanjima postavljeni demografski ciljevi ostali su neostvareni, a demografski trendovi nastavili su istim tokom.In this paper we consider the issue of demographic trends and thus the development of population policies in Croatia. The aim of this paper is to gain an insight into the current demographic trends, factors that influence certain trends and measures being taken for the purpose of reversing current demographic trends. In Croatia, fertility began to noticeably decline since the 1960's and in 1995 it droped to such a degree that the fertility rate was lower than the mortality rate, resulting in natural decrease of population. In 1991 the Homeland War broke out and lasted until 1995, which had a negative impact on the already poor demographic situation leaving long-term consequences on the country. After the war ended, in 1996 the goverment brought the first of three population policy programes to come, the National Demographic Development Programme. The next programme, National Family Policy, was adopted in 2002 and the last the National Population Policy was adopted in 2006. Despite ambitious goals and optimistic expectations, set goals were not achieved and demographic trends continued at the same direction