The Ministry of Social Affairs proposed a total of 16 measures in its birth rate analysis to support families in having and raising children. Among other things, the ministry suggested that family benefits could be adjusted in line with rising living costs to help families cope financially.

To address the fact that young families tend to postpone having children, the ministry also proposed adjusting parental benefits to reflect wage growth between consecutive births.

Both measures, however, would be fairly expensive. For example, this year's budget allocates about €420 million for family benefits. According to the Ministry of Finance, prices are expected to rise by 5.4 percent this year. That means if family benefits were indexed, next year's spending would reach €443 million instead of €420 million — an additional €23 million.

Although indexing family benefits and adjusting parental benefits would be costly for the state, population scientist Mare Ainsaar said these measures should not be dismissed, since the cost of living in Estonia has risen.

"Inflation has also affected children's lives. If we think that parents should be happy and want to have more and more children under conditions of inflation, while life is getting harder, that just doesn't make sense. Right now, the support for a first and second child is €80. Many parents probably realize that even monthly kindergarten fees are higher than that €80," Ainsaar said.

Ainsaar does not agree with every proposal put forward by the ministry.

"One measure I would question is the proposal to give families who are struggling to secure housing their child allowance upfront as housing money. That's not a measure I would personally support, because I believe child allowances are meant to support the child's upbringing. If that money is used all at once, it's neither philosophically nor ideologically sound, and in reality, the child still needs that money while growing up," she said.

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