The biggest Croatian pensioners' association also proposed a thorough reform of the second pension pillar, noting that priority should be given to the first pension pillar from which current pensioners receive their pension allowances, and that insurees wishing to transfer their pension savings from the second to the first pension pillar in order to obtain the right to a pension supplement, should be allowed to do so.
The association also called on the government and parliament as well as all social partners to adopt a declaration on fundamental, inalienable rights of elderly people, thus making it possible to find long-term solutions that would lead to the creation of more stable and safer living conditions for the elderly.
The Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy said in a statement that Croatia was an old society and was around the EU average in terms of population age, with people above the age of 65 accounting for around 19% of the population.
The Ministry recognises problems faced by older people and their need for different types of social support and services, and it is promoting existing types of care for the elderly and looking for new ones, notably those that encourage older people to stay in their own homes and their families, the ministry said.
In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated 1 October the International Day of Older Persons in order to raise awareness of the need to adjust the social environment to the needs and possibilities of older people.