Arras wrote that time spent at home with a child can reduce mothers' work experience. Mothers may also deliberately choose more flexible but lower-paid jobs.

"Or the pace of promotion simply slows compared with others. This list could go on. Studies have not identified a single cause — rather, it is the combined effect of several factors."

According to Arras, one thing is clear: the result is an income gap.

"Because the economic risk of having children is not shared equally in society, the proposal is to eliminate this injustice and lower women's income tax by 3.7 percent for each child starting from the moment the child is born."

The income tax rate in Estonia is currently 22 percent.

"The proposal would mean that the income tax rate helps compensate for lost income that appears from the moment a child is born until the end of a career: one child → income tax 18.3 percent, two children → income tax 14.6 percent, three children → income tax 10.9 percent," Arras added in his calculations.

Arras said his proposal is based on an international meta-analysis by economists and on the average estimates found in academic literature.

"The economic risk of having a child falls disproportionately on women's shoulders, which is why it is also a societal issue," he added.

A Reform Party spokesperson said that this is Arras' personal proposal and not the position of the party's board. The Riigikogu elections will take place on March 7 next year.

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