The head of government states that raising benefit caps is being considered and emphasizes that the state is financially capable of encouraging birth rates.
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“We currently have restrictions, certain benefit caps, and we are considering raising those caps. There were, of course, discussions in the coalition format about going back to the past and removing the caps, but that would be quite a heavy burden on our state budget, though we do not completely rule it out. (…) There is a plan, it has a clear value of 70 million euros if we increase the benefit caps to some extent,” M. Sinkevičius told the portal lrt.lt.
“The state is capable of increasing (financial support – BNS). At different times, we had different situations with child care benefits – there was a period without caps, then there was a birth boom, but there were also some cases of fraud when salaries were artificially inflated before the child’s birth to receive corresponding benefits,” he added.
The Prime Minister said that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Social Security and Labour presented him with a child care benefits plan, but M. Sinkevičius found it “not very ambitious.”
“I had several conversations with the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, the Ministry of Finance. They presented me with a certain plan regarding changes in the amount of child care benefits. But I found that plan not very ambitious and half-jokingly told my colleagues that we need to make a plan that would seem attractive even to us, relatively older people, so that the ministers themselves would consider, if possible, deciding to have another child. And this must include not only having a child but also adoption measures,” emphasized the Prime Minister.
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At the beginning of August, the Prime Minister said that the child care benefits system needs to change, and up to 100 million euros will be needed for this next year. He explained that the Ministry of Social Security and Labour is preparing several scenarios on how incentives to increase birth rates might change from 2027.
Meanwhile, in June, M. Sinkevičius said he would look for ways to pay child care benefits equal to the previous income of parents of young children starting next year.
The leader of the Democratic Union “For Lithuania,” Virginijus Sinkevičius, said in June that linking child care benefits to income would require about 70 million euros, and funds could be allocated from the “Sodra” reserve.
As BNS wrote, the government led by M. Sinkevičius promises in its program to review the child benefit system and increase support for families so that families can maintain their income level when a child is born.
