Issues relating to birth rate were discussed in the Riigikogu

Members of the Riigikogu Jaak Valge, Ants Frosch, Henn Põlluaas and Leo Kunnas asked if the Ministry of Social Affairs was going to organise or fund campaigns to promote natural family and having many children.

Sikkut explained that the Ministry of Social Affairs itself did not directly conduct campaigns. Social partners engage in raising awareness. “We select our social partners by way of a competition, generally every two years, and the Estonian Association of Large Families is one of our partners. Their work has involved conferences and media campaigns as well as other activities that also support the natural family and having many children,” Sikkut said.

She added that the latest call for applications for finding strategic partners had been announced at the end of the previous year, and the purpose of the grant was to promote the role of non-governmental organizations in shaping and implementing policies in the social and health sectors. The call for applications also included a programme to support the well-being of children and families and parenthood, and a programme to promote the inclusion of children’s rights. In addition, the Estonian Association of Large Families organises activities related to the upbringing of children and to the acknowledging and empowerment of families with children, like the Large Family of the Year Award and the Large Family Day, “Pearl Fisher” awards for parents of large families and the Autumn Family Day, as well as the conferences “Happy Young People”, “Happy Man” and “Happy Woman”. These activities have also been continued so far. The results of the new call for applications for social partners will be announced in February. These activities can be expected to also continue in the following years.

Sikkut stressed that, undoubtedly, more Estonian children should be born. “But quantity is not everything. We cannot say that there is one right way to raise children or one right family if we want more children to be born. Every child is welcome, and different families need different kinds of support. Some need economic support, and some need flexible childcare – we must provide all that if we want children to be born. So in addition to ensuring that all children are born into a supportive environment, it is particularly important that they get a good education and a good command of Estonian,” Sikkut said.

On the motion of initiators, the first reading of the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a proposal to the Government of the Republic on the establishment of a temporary solidarity tax for the banking sector” (535 OE), initiated by the Estonian Centre Party Parliamentary Group, was excluded from the agenda for the sitting on Thursday.

Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart, Rain Epler and Kalle Laanet took the floor during the open microphone.

The sitting ended at 5.39 p.m.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Gunnar Paal
+372 631 6351, +372 5190 2837
gunnar.paal@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Issues relating to birth rate were discussed in the Riigikogu

Source: Parliament of Estonia