Judging by the vital statistics, Canton 10, as well as the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, does not have a bright future. Although it consists of six local self-governments, and is the largest in the Federation in terms of area, the white plague is the real state of this canton, and there is also a continuous trend of emigration and seeking a better future in the countries of Western Europe, including those across the ocean.
For more than a decade in Canton 10, the number of deaths was usually twice the number of newborns, and in 2023 the ratio between births and deaths is one to two and a half.
“261 children were born, the data refers to all municipalities, and at the same time, 667 people died in the canton,” states Dr. Diana Mamić, Director of the Public Health Institute of Canton 10.
The worst situation is in Bosanski Grahovo, since only one child was born last year, and 29 people died. According to the analyzes of the past years, white plague is a permanent condition in the largest canton in terms of area.
“From 2005 to 2023, there is a big difference in the number of births and deaths, so far we have lost 8,426 inhabitants, which is roughly the size of the city of Livno,” Mamić points out.
Local governments try to help young families with one-time cash allowances for newborn children.
“For the first newborn child, the support is 700 KM, for the second child 900, for the third 1,100, for the fourth and each subsequent child 1,400 marks”, says Darko Čondrić, mayor of Livno (HDZBiH).
There are also other measures under the jurisdiction of local self-government:
“Subsidies for private kindergartens, free school transport, subsidies for the first residential property – these are all demographic measures that are within our competence and we can adopt them, but the city cannot solve demography by itself, that is the strategy of the state, the canton,” points out Čondrić.
Since 2018, Canton 10 has not increased the child allowance. That omission was corrected to some extent during the adoption of this year’s budget.
“I managed to secure an amendment worth 1,400,000 BAM for the child allowance, which would mean that the child allowance increases from 30 to 50 BAM per child. We still need to work on it, invest more, but for a start this is a nice story,” says Marija Bagarić, an independent councilor in the Assembly of Canton 10.
All children up to the age of 15 receive this allowance, but emigration and the white plague took their toll, so the number of beneficiaries decreased from the initial 5,856 to the current 5,310, Federalna writes.
