Families with children can expect tax breaks from next year under a "Family Package Plus", which the government is still drawing up. The package also includes higher benefits and more support for parents.
The government plans to raise the allowance for looking after a child in the second year of maternity leave. It also plans a cash bonus for mothers who go back to work earlier.
Some costs linked to children's development outside compulsory schooling will qualify for a tax cut. Plamen Dimitrov, president of the KNSB trade union confederation, called the package a step in the right direction.
A dressmaker who makes dresses in a studio, and a mother of three, says she spends about €1,500 a month on her children. That does not include medicines, clothes and shoes, and even so, she said, the money is not enough. She said life is hard, but her children and their happiness are the meaning of her life.
Her children do folk dancing. It costs €60 a month for each child, plus costumes and training clothes. She suggests the state should pay part of the cost, such as the fees: parents would keep their receipts and get the money back.
She wants the help to match what families really need. She wants certainty, so she can plan her budget and pay for her children's education and development. In her view, children should be the state's top priority. She hopes the state will help her be a better parent, without the constant fear of whether the money will last.
While the government works on the package, unions and employers are arguing over next year's minimum wage. The KNSB says it should be no lower than €690 and that €660 is unacceptable. Dimitrov said wages must keep up with inflation.
He told BNT: "People will not get through this winter on these wages. There must be an increase of at least 10%."
Employers oppose a sharp rise in pay. They say higher wages will push up shop prices and inflation. Dobrin Ivanov, chief executive of the AIKB employers' group, told BNT that employers do not want low minimum or average wages.
"But they want incomes to grow in line with what firms and the economy can afford," Ivanov said.