My day, my rights

Marking World Children’s Day

For the 36th year in a row, the twentieth of November has been reserved for children, more precisely, for highlighting their importance and contribution to the society and to remind us of their diverse capabilities and talents, but also of the necessity of protecting their rights. As UNICEF explains, this day has been chosen because it was then, in 1989, that the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted - the fastest and most widely ratified human rights agreement in history.
This year, under the slogan My day, my rights, children are given a voice to speak about their lives, their hopes and their rights around the world.

More than 32 thousand babies in 2024

According to the latest population estimate in mid-2024, there were 692 835 persons aged 0 - 18 living in Croatia, and 32 069 children were born alive in the same year. More boys (51.7%) were born than girls (48.3%). Although 0.3% fewer children (101 fewer children) were born compared to 2023, there are still some cities that are proud of having achieved a positive natural increase in 2024 (more births than deaths).



Kindergartens and schools - a place of learning and play

Some children will do this as early as one year old, and some just before school, but all of our youngest ones will join preschool education and then school education as they grow up. At the beginning of the 2024/2025 pedagogic year, 1 637 kindergartens and 133 other legal entities implementing preschool education and care programmes (basic schools, playrooms in libraries or other institutions or organisations) were operating in Croatia. A total of 145 487 children were included in a regular preschool education programme, 7 641 children were included in a preschool programme and 3 948 children in a shorter programme. There were 82.7% of children who spent eight and more hours in a kindergarten. More information about basic and secondary school students can be found in our article about the beginning of the school year.

All parents know that raising children, along with lots of love, communication and spending time together, also brings financial obligations. We have checked the prices of groups of products in 2024 compared to the year before. The prices of baby food increased by 3.4%, the prices of footwear for infants and children went up by 4.6%, while the prices of garments for infants (0 to 2 years) and children (3 to 13 years) decreased by 2.7%. In 2024, the prices of games, toys and hobbies were 1.0% higher than in 2023, and in the same year we imported 107.3 million euro worth of toys.
Since we started this section with data on kindergartens, let’s mention that in 2024, the prices of preschool and primary education, which include monthly payments for a full-day stay of children in a kindergarten and preschool programme (for children aged six to seven), went up by 4.0%.

Listen to children

We can often hear that children are like sponges, but it often happens that the youngest ones can teach grown ups a lot of things. Therefore, we could look up to children for some good habits so, in addition to laughing more and having more fun, we could also read more or visit the theatre more often. According to the data for 2024, children and young people under the age of 18 were the most numerous members of public libraries (they made up 43% of the membership), and members of basic and secondary school libraries made up 42% of the membership of all libraries. We won't go into whether they borrowed books for mandatory book reports or they read books of their own choice in their free time, but they certainly had a few good quotes etched in their memory. However, inspiring quotes can be found not only in books, but also in theatres. In 2024, a total of 21 professional children’s theatres operated in Croatia, which performed 456 titles and 6 400 plays in Croatia and abroad for a total of 401 759 visitors.

In the end, let’s remind you of this year’s UNICEF’s message: Listen to children, stand up for the rights of every child, every day.

Happy World Children’s Day!

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