Social ministry’s intent to make entry of father’s name mandatory on birth certificate may indeed help against trickery with allowances while not alleviating the broader problem. Estonia has too many kids growing up without fathers and, to solve the situation, a name on a certificate will not mean much. A document will not bring responsibility if it is otherwise avoided. And this latter issue ought to be the focal point.
The questions of how much the state may interfere with people’s private lives will usually be answered as we weigh on the balance the good gotten out of it against people’s right to live their lives so these will not become overly complicated due to law. At the moment, we have about 20,000 kids in Estonia who officially have no father. Meaning, on birth certificate the mother stands alone as father’s name is missing. How much of this is because people want the single parent’s allowance, and how much because of problems in private life, we do not know. But one may guess it’s rather the latter.
For us to take this stand, reasons are many. The main one, perhaps, being: such families are hardly numerous as would, for the sake of a less than €20 single parent allowance, leave a child officially fatherless. This does seem like some few isolated instances. Thus: just as it is not right, for the sake of the few swindlers, to rearrange an otherwise good and functioning tax law, the same goes with this issue here. The ones who want to cheat will always find a way. The question thus arising: how will all the others feel who, through this, will indirectly be labelled cheats. Or, worse yet, whose right to have and to raise a child without the participation of the other parent would somehow be shown in a bad light.
Sure, whoever says a kid is entitled to have both parents is right. Even so, life is larger than rules. If a parent decides to have and to raise a child alone, may the state have a right to intervene with the decision? The reasons for such a decision taken are multiple and for the most part they are not off-handed but carefully weighed. A father’s unwillingness to know about the newborn; the kids gotten by artificial insemination; such kids whose father required an abortion but by the bravery of the mom – to face the trials alone – have still been granted the right to life... The list is long and multifaceted – just as the Estonia we are today. There’s a lot we’d want to change. But it can’t be changed the social ministry way.
Desiring to do something for the single parent, better go by the plan long discussed that the state will assume to pay alimonies and will proceed to collect the money from the other parent. Next to that, all else seems artificial and vain.
Let the people raise their children and live the best they can. All the state can do is make bringing the children into this world and raising them as good and problem-fee as currently possible. Not always can the state keep all foreseeable problems from happening. But the state can always avoid creating the extra problems. Sometimes, this is the best it can do.
Estonia abounds with single parents. These need to be supported; when money fails us, in our thoughts at least. For that to be the case, alas, social ministry plan will not help much.