Tanel Kiik, the chairman of the Riigikogu’s Center Party faction, handed over a specific solution proposal to make child and family allowances fairer without cutting the allowances for families with children, which would also provide an opportunity to restore the normal work of the parliament.
“The Center Party’s proposal is to raise the allowance for the first and second child to the level of 100 euros, as it is for the third and every subsequent child. We also think it is only right to index child allowances similarly to the allowance for families with children,” he said Tanel Kiik. “Also, I hope that the Council of Elders of the Riigikogu, which will meet today at 1:15 p.m., will discuss this proposal in substance in order to find a political compromise to restore the normal work of the parliament. The draft law on the equalization of child benefits presented by the faction of the Center Party helps to increase the economic security of families and is a good starting point for finding a political agreement between the coalition and opposition parties.”
According to the vice-chairman of the Central Party, the rapid inflation and the increase in food prices have affected the economic livelihood of many families, and it has hit families with lower incomes particularly painfully. “It is the duty of the state to come to the aid of families and support their livelihood. The purpose of the bill is to increase the coping skills of families with children through more effective support for them. Increasing the amount of child support for the first and second child in the family to 100 euros will help reduce the number of children living in poverty,” said Tanel Kiik.
In order for the child allowance to continue to be proportional to the increase in the standard of living and the amount of the allowance should not be changed by a separate decision every year, according to the draft, the allowance is indexed with the index on May 1 of each calendar year. The value of the index depends on 20 percent of the annual growth of the consumer price index and 80 percent of the annual growth of the pension insurance portion of the social tax. The index is expressed to three decimal places. Child allowance or allowance for a rich family is not indexed if the index value is less than 1,000. This means that child and family allowances do not decrease when the standard of living falls.
