NordenBladet —
The Riigikogu passed the amended Family Benefits Act, the Family Law Act and the Employment Contracts Act (703 SE), which the President had refused to proclaim last week and which the Riigikogu had decided to amend this morning.
Before the second reading, the Social Affairs Committee amended the date of entry into force of the Act from 1 January to 1 February. At the same time, provisions on increased benefits, nonconsideration of studying, and the payment of benefits in stages after the child reaches 19 years of age would apply retroactively as of 1 January. The Committee added the clarification that the increased family benefits would be paid as of February when the amendments enter into force; in January, the benefits would be paid in the current amounts, and the difference between the January and February benefits would be paid out by 31 May at the latest.
The Social Affairs Committee also moved to remove the sentence in the Family Law Act which the President had seen as lacking legal clarity and therefore being in conflict with the Constitution.
The Act would increase the allowance for the first and second child from EUR 60 and the single parent’s child allowance from EUR 19.18 to EUR 80 per month as of 1 January 2023. The allowance for families with many children would increase from EUR 300 to EUR 650 per month for three to six children, and from EUR 400 to EUR 850 per month for seven or more children. From 1 May 2024 the allowance for families with many children would be indexed with the pension index.
At the same time, the requirement that the child must be enrolled in a school would be abandoned as a condition for the payment of child allowance for children aged 16 to 19. This would make both the allowance for families with many children and the child allowance available to families where the child does not continue their studies for some reason, for example due to special needs. In order to promote education, the Act would retain the rule that if a 19-year-old is studying during the current academic year, the payment of the allowance would continue until they graduate or until the end of the academic year.
The Act also provides that in the case of the death of a child under three years of age, one month’s parental benefit would be paid to both the mother and the father. An amendment would also be made in the regulation for calculating maintenance provided in the Family Law Act to the effect that the allowance for families with many children would be taken into account to the extent of 50 per cent when calculating the minimum maintenance. This amendment should make the calculation of the allowance for families with many children clearer and fairer.
During the debate, Õnne Pillak (Reform Party faction), Mihhail Lotman (Faction Isamaa), Kalvi Kõva (Social Democratic Party faction), and Maria Jufereva-Skuratovska (Centre Party faction) took the floor.
During the final vote, 61 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and one voted against it.
The sitting ended at 4.49 p.m..
Source: Parliament of Estonia