Around 63,000 children will start kindergarten in Estonia in 2026, which is down from just under 67,000 in 2025, according to the Ministry of Education, ERR reports. The number of children in kindergarten has gone down across the country due to falling birth rates, which has made it easier for parents to place their children…
The share of people living in households with dependent children who were at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in the Baltic States was highest in Lithuania in 2025, Eurostat reported. The AROPE rate for people living in households with dependent children stood at 18.3% in Lithuania in 2025, which was down from 20.9%…
Latvia has over 223,000 pupils studying in schools of general education in the academic year 2025/2026, TV3 reports. However, due to the country’s demographic decline, the number of schoolchildren may drop to fewer than 200,000 by 2030. By 2040, the number may fall to a little over 120,000, which would be more than 40% fewer…
Latvia has recorded the country’s first outbreak of measles since 2018, according to the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (SPKC), LETA reports. SPKC has so far registered 36 cases, most of them children, and the number of cases continues to rise, LETA reports. Many of the infected children are students at Riga Waldorf School,…
Authorities in Latvia and Lithuania have opened investigations into information in documents related to the convicted US sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. The documents contain hundreds of references to Latvia and Lithuania, including indications that Epstein’s associates had recruited young women and children for sexual exploitation through local modelling agencies, LETA and LRT reported. Latvia’s State…
Newly released documents connected to the convicted US human trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, include numerous mentions related to the Baltic States. Several documents refer to travel arrangements to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Estonian World reports. Many messages refer, often in sexualised context, to women that Epstein or his associates had met in the Baltic States. Latvia…
Lithuanian teenagers continue to smoke and drink less, according to a new European school survey, LRT reports. Also, cannabis use among minors in Lithuania is now lowest in 20 years. At the same time, the misuse of over-the-counter and prescription medications, especially sedatives and sleeping pills, among teenagers has increased markedly. Also, electronic cigarettes remain…
The supervisory council of Estonia’s public broadcaster, Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), has dismissed its long-term chairman, Rein Veidemann, ERR reports. Earlier, Veidemann had criticised an interview of a same-sex couple with two children that was aired on ETV, saying that the programme ran counter to the values of the majority of Estonians. ERR’s supervisory council elected…
Estonia does not support banning young people from accessing social media, Estonia’s Justice and Digital Affairs Minister, Liisa Pakosta, announced, ERR reports. Earlier, the European Parliament proposed setting an EU-wide age limit on social media platforms. Under the plan, children could use social media from the age of 13 with parental consent and independently from…