To improve the demographic situation, the Ministry of Welfare proposes ensuring kindergarten availability from one year of age. The ministry also proposes adopting additional babysitting services, including, after finishing primary school, reviewing tax incentives and benefits, as well as increasing other support before and after the child enters the family, according to the ministry’s report on the demographic policy situation in the country.
To improve the demographic situation, the ministry proposes setting three directions for actions – every child is a treasure, quality living environment, as well as promotion of re-emigration.
Regarding the first direction – every child is a treasure – the ministry proposes several dozen new measures, most of which would require additional funding.
The ministry proposes ensuring kindergarten services to children as early as one year of age, free catering included.
The ministry also encourages children to be let into a municipal kindergarten even if their place of residence is not registered there, as long as their parents work in that municipality. Extended groups are also encouraged, the admission of which in kindergartens should be prioritized. For example, children whose parents have functional disorders, children from large families and children raised by a single parent.
The Ministry also encourages the creation of a more extensive system of care and babysitting for pre-school children, including temporary babysitting. The ministry encourages people to think about providing childcare outside kindergarten hours and after the end of primary school, as well as for children whose parents have non-standard working hours. Supervision in crisis situations should also be ensured.
Part of the activities focus on improving access to prenatal, childbirth and postnatal care and support for new parents. For example, the ministry encourages the introduction of an infant package, a preventive health program during pregnancy and post-partum to promote a positive experience for young families, as well as the creation of a mentor network in municipalities for young and expectant parents.
The ministry also encourages the payment of three medical fertilization procedures if the first were unsuccessful. Currently, after one unsuccessful fertilization, another procedure is paid for. It is also intended to increase the volume of laboratory examinations and expand the availability of specialist consultations in order to identify the cause of infertility in a timely manner and start the necessary treatment.
The ministry emphasises that it is also necessary to improve psycho-emotional support for parents in case of perinatal mortality.
Looking after the financial side for families, the ministry proposes increasing various benefits related to having children, as well as review target groups and contribution targets for social security contributions.
For example, the ministry encourages the introduction of a paid pregnancy period for non-working women, which would be analogous to prenatal leave for working women. It also encourages a review of the amount of the family state benefit for all children, encouraging it to be set at the same amount for the first child as for the second child.
At the same time, the Ministry of Welfare wants to pay this benefit for children from the age of 16 also in cases where the child is in the process of acquiring higher education. At the same time, it is encouraged to pay this allowance from the moment the child is born.
The ministry also encourages to think more about support for a family-friendly place to live. For example, at the birth of the third child, grant a grant for the purchase of housing, and at the birth of each subsequent child, a proportionately higher amount. The state would be the guarantor for a large family mortgage loan.
The ministry also calls for a support system for families with children who have lost loved ones or faced other crisis situations, such as divorce.
This is a small portion of the ministry’s initiatives. A number of other measures relate to the promotion of access to health care services for children, the promotion of resilience of seniors in the labour market, the motivation and involvement of the economically inactive population in the labour market, as well as other areas.
The second line of action, a quality living environment, includes measures for a healthy and safe life, a smart and educated society, sustainable infrastructures for the population and the economy, and the promotion of safe living conditions.
In turn, the third line of action provides for the promotion of planned migration and re-emigration of the population.
The ministry did submit requests for funding for priority actions during discussions of the state budget plan for 2025, but these requests were declined.
As previously indicated by ministry, Eurostat forecasts that the population of Latvia will continue to decrease, shrinking by a third or up to 1.3 million by the year 2070.