Наталитет – бреме жена у Србиjи
Birth Rate: The Burden of Women in Serbia

Summary/Abstract: Serbia has been facing a negative birth rate for several decades. The demographic problem also consists in the outflow of the population in search of better living conditions. In order to encourage women to have children, the state passed the Law on Financial Support to Families with Children, which significantly increased the parental allowance. The highest state officials affirmed this legal solution, stating that with the increase of this allowance, all obstacles on the way to raising the birth rate in Serbia have been removed. At the same time, they told women that there was no need for their employment anymore, as they could achieve their material existence by giving birth to children, because they expected high financial compensations for that. This message made it clear to women in Serbia that they were “in charge” of the “job” of raising the birth rate, i.e. that the role of a mother was still primarily reserved for them. This called into question the dignity of women in Serbia. Gender stereotypes, according to which the role of a caring mother is traditionally reserved for women, are present not only in Serbia, but also in other Balkan countries, and they represent a serious obstacle to the development of women and thus of the entire Balkan society. With this paper, we aim to point out how the demographic problem in Serbia is being solved in the wrong way by awarding cash benefits to women for childbirth, with the message that the role of a mother should be their only preoccupation because of the declining birth rate.

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