These changes are envisaged by amendments to the Law on Child Allowance sent by the government to parliament today for adoption under urgent procedure.
The bill contains provisions of the population policy, Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said.
The number of recipients of child allowance would increase due to an increase in the budgetary base as a precondition for acquiring the right to child allowance (from 40% to 50%) and the introduction of three wage categories to replace the current two.
Under the bill, there would be three wage categories and depending on the category, child allowance would amount from 199.56 to 299.34 kuna.
Families whose income per capita does not exceed 543.14 kuna would be entitled to the highest child allowance, and it is estimated that 141,700 children would be entitled to that type of allowance.
The basic child allowance would also be increased for children without parents, children with arrested development, as well as children with one parent.
For 17,000 children whose allowance does not depend on the wage category, allowances would remain the same - 831.50 kuna for children with severely damaged health and 374.18 kuna for children who receive allowances in line with the Law on the Rights of Croatian Soldiers.
The implementation of the law would require 1.7 billion kuna, an amount that has been secured in the 2007 budget.
(1EUR = 7.36 kuna)