Estonia: Government agrees on need-based social benefits in 2028

The Estonian government has agreed on switching to need-based social benefits in 2028, Education Minister Kristina Kallas announced, BNS reports. She argued that the state and taxpayers could no longer afford distributing equal support to everyone, and that doing so was not even necessary. Better data would allow the state to provide better personalised services, Kallas suggested. Meanwhile, the Foresight Centre (ASK) think tank has carried out a study of the potential impact of switching to need-based social benefits on the state budget, poverty, and inequality, ERR reported. The study found that doing so would save budget funds but would not reduce poverty or inequality. ASK recommended that changes not be made quickly as there was no reliable data on households in Estonia. Justice and Digital Minister Liisa Pakosta stressed that when making data-based decisions, the priority should be on ensuring data security, ERR reported. Currently, nearly 70% of the relevant databases and software were outdated, she noted.