I don't know whether you've ever experienced having just €16 in your bank account with a week to go until payday. I have. Not just by myself, but living with a family, members of which need to be fed and clothed.

The frustration, depression and feeling of hopelessness such a situation creates can only be experienced, unless one has an extraordinary sense of empathy and fantasy.

I know that Annely Akkermann, head of the Riigikogu Finance Committee and former finance minister, hails from the small island of Kihnu where people are thrifty out of necessity. It was all the more peculiar to learn former IRL, current Reform Party member Akkermann's position on the government's plan for an additional 2 percent income tax that would not be subject to a tax-free minimum.

Akkermann found that the added tax burden could be managed "quite imperceptibly" and that it "should not be felt in everyday consumption."

For someone who makes minimum wage, 2 percent of income comes to the aforementioned €16. Only someone who is sufficiently alienated from reality can claim that €16 is a trifling sum people won't feel is missing.

Especially in a situation where a recent VAT hike by 2 percentage points is already eating away at purchasing power, whereas another two points will be added a year from now.

Inevitable decisions or not, the Reform government seems to be giving Isamaa everything it needs to convert its current 31 percent rating into a general elections victory next time around.

Of course, everything is relative and depends on the reference system, as they say in physics. Åland millionaire Anders Wiklöf exceeded the speed limit by 32 kilometers per hour and was fined €121,000 based on his level of income. This would come to €200 for someone making the minimum wage in Estonia.

This relativity brings us to a benefit that everyone in Estonia is entitled to, or everyone who has happened or decided to have a kid.

Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo (Reform) has promised an analysis on the sensibility of universal child benefits by this autumn. Universal here meaning that right now, the benefit reaches every parent, irrespective of how much they need it.

The minister said she does not yet have an answer to the question of whether such a system of benefits is logical and justifiable.

Allow me to save everyone time and money and say right now that it is neither sensible, logical nor justifiable.

While everyone likes to be paid for nothing, the real necessity of the €80-100 benefit varies wildly for a single parent making minimum wage versus a member of the Riigikogu who makes six times more every month.

Therefore, allow me to propose a child allowance based on level of income and one you need to apply for instead of receiving automatically. Households making the average salary should have a set child benefit rate, while households earning less would be paid more and those making more would gradually be paid less.

Switching to a necessity-based approach would help most vulnerable children from less fortunate families whose parents' situation is only set to become more difficult in the wake of the coming years' tax hikes.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!