As of 1st July 1 2026 social security support will be granted to parents who make social insurance contributions in Latvia and raise their children in Latvia, aligning national regulations with the approach used in many European countries. This is stipulated by the amendments to the Law “On Maternity and Sickness Insurance” approved by the government, which specify that parental benefits will be granted only for children who have been assigned a personal identification number and who reside in Latvia. The amendments still need to be reviewed and voted on by the Parliament (Saeima).
In recent years, with the growing recruitment of labor from third countries, there has been a sharp increase in cases where parental benefits were claimed by employed fathers who are citizens of third countries , who came to Latvia for temporary work while their families and children continued to live in their country of origin. As a result, contributions made by participants in Latvia’s social insurance system were used to increase demographic growth in third countries, since parental benefit is one of the social insurance benefit with longest duration .
Minister for Welfare Reinis Uzulnieks explains: “The State Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) will verify whether the child resides in Latvia based on the information regarding the child’s declared place of residence. In cases of doubt, the SSIA will request the beneficiary to provide additional evidence confirming that the child resides in Latvia—such as travel documents or records of registration and visits to a family doctor.”
“The main goal of Latvia’s social insurance system is to care for our children and families here in Latvia. Parental benefits must support those parents who are raising their children in our country, investing in its future, and contributing to the development of our society. These children and their parents must be the priority of this system.”