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The 39-year-old politician was elected a member of the Seimas for the second time in a row; In parliament she worked in the Labor and Social Affairs Committee, so she seems to be interested in these issues.
Ms Navickienė says compensation for employees’ salaries during downtime may increase, but if the current procedure is revised, it will be applied more precisely.
The MEP acknowledges that she did not support the current law on the allocation of children’s money to everyone, regardless of the economic situation of the family, but ensures that the current regime will be maintained.
The minister candidate also does not promise changes due to the second pillar of pension accumulation. However, it promises that not only widows or widowers, but all other single people will receive a single person benefit that will be significantly higher than the current widow’s pension.
On the other hand, he does not rule out the possibility that a debate may be launched in the future on the imposition of maximum pensions, which is common in all the countries of the European Union.
An interview with M. Navickiene on these and other topics.
If approved by the Minister, how would you propose to change the current system of wage subsidies during downtime?
Now, perhaps the most important thing would be to make sure that these subsidies, which are in effect today, are as targeted as possible. And that it is precisely those sectors and workers that need it most, or those employers who have the greatest opportunity to decide to lay off their workers, in order to minimize both job losses and economic losses.
Therefore, I would be in favor of assessing the whole situation and applying the subsidies as precisely as possible, not as broadly as possible.
In that case, could the subsidies be higher than they are now?
If we had a narrower circle of recipients, they could be larger. However, we must weigh the possibilities of the state budget and we will do so first as soon as we see what the real situation is.
You are raising two daughters in the family. How do you spend the so-called child money that you get for them?
In our family, the money of the children accumulates for the future studies of the children. We have made that decision.
How do you think a child’s money should be universal and paid for all children, regardless of the financial situation of their parents?
I’ll say this: decisions like those already made by the previous government should not be changed now, or that the child’s money will be “taken away” in some way. We certainly won’t do that.
However, the position seen before the decision was passed was always that those who work, earn, and pay taxes would receive better support for children through the amount of tax-free income. Staying motivated to work, earn, and pay taxes.
And those whose income does not reach the levels that we would like to support families with children should receive money for children.
So, for the purpose of paying money, I had a different position. However, the current system is and will continue to be so.
His party proposes to change the current provisions to pay widowhood and orphan pensions and pay benefits to all single people. Why are you proposing such a change and what could be the new benefits for single people?
Because those people who are alone, the elderly, face one of the greatest risks of social exclusion and poverty. It was estimated that the benefit could be around € 42. It would cover the main part of the basket of public services. Calculations were made for this.
But, in principle, one would like to pay not only widowhood pensions, but also those of those who are simply alone, and pay everyone the same lonely pension, which would be exactly 42 euros.
However, for a specific amount, we should also consider the budgetary possibilities. For example, the law would be implemented from the middle of the year, or at the beginning we would pay everyone the current amount of the widow’s pension (26.13 euros), and then we would reach 42 euros.
Throughout the European Union, with the exception of probably the only Lithuania, the most important pensions, more precisely, the part that exceeds the established amount, are subject to personal income tax. In your opinion, should such an order be necessary also in Lithuania?
I think we should now focus more on the people with the lowest pensions, because retirees are again at the highest risk of poverty.
And all our attention should be on maximizing the lowest pensions. Here I am talking not only about the basic amount of pensions, but also about the single people themselves, etc.
Our level of pensions, if we look at the people who receive the lowest pensions, really indicates that we should pay the most attention to them.
But there are also those who receive high pensions, as well as those who receive several pensions each. And them?
It seems to me that we could discuss this situation and somehow consider it in the future. We have no such changes or plans for the tax principle at this time.
How do you think old-age pensions should be indexed? Do you support the current pension, or do you think it could be better?
I am in favor of a stable pension system. Indexing as planned works fine, I think it should be left.
The current mechanism improved slightly at the end of the last Seimas period, as I initiated a bill that would make the indexation of pensions independent of small fluctuations in gross domestic product, unless the wage bill changes, which is a real indicator of the indexation of pensions.
With this reservation, the pension indexation system seems to me to be working well today. It is important that there is enough budget money to pay these pensions and that they grow constantly.
The second pillar pension accumulation system has recently been changed in Estonia. As a result, individuals will be able to transfer accumulated assets in pension funds to personal investment accounts. Do you think it could be similar in Lithuania?
I do not think that we should change the principles of the pension system and the accruals in the near future, because it has only been revised and changed recently. Each intervention in that system causes a certain insecurity in people.
Now, it seems to me that the most important thing is that social security, the pension system, so that everything is quite stable and people feel safe. Especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
So I guess we shouldn’t talk about changes for now. Unless we see other financial opportunities, other resources after a while, then we can go back to these topics.
In the European Union, a directive has been proposed on uniform principles to establish the monthly minimum wage (MMA). What do you think of this initiative and how should MMA be established in Lithuania?
European Union directives usually have a certain logic. Of course, only each Member State has to weigh its financial capacity.
I think that talking only about MMA may not be easy because there are districts and regions where people are at some risk of not having a job because employers cannot afford to pay for MMA. We must understand that the situation is different in different areas.
It seems to me that we should be very responsible to ensure that our focus on MMA does not lead to job losses, especially in the regions.
What do you think will be the biggest challenge in your new job if approved by the Minister?
My biggest personal challenge is to improve the availability of services in Lithuania for those who need help the most. It is about talking about the inclusion of those groups in society that experience the greatest exclusion. Whether they are people raising children with disabilities, single parents, or single parents raising children.
We have many assumptions to think that the current system in the municipalities is very uneven. There are many institutions that try to get rid of the problems with each other instead of offering solutions.
I fully understand that even the best system is based on people’s attitudes, on that human factor. But I propose a human goal for the people who provide the services that participate in this system, so that we all assume joint responsibility. The responsibility of not providing services in a timely manner would lead people into situations where they have to pick up a child with an autism spectrum and dance with him from the bridge.
I think this will be one of the biggest challenges. This challenge, of course, is not easy or simple, but the availability and provision of personalized services in the same way throughout Lithuania is still not solved today.
What leadership experience do you have and do you think the philosophy you studied will help you in your new job?
I can say that philosophy can help in any job. I would also like to say that if there are students who are reading this interview and not deciding where they should go to study, which has been the case in my case, I would definitely recommend a degree in philosophy.
It seems to me that all my abilities to summarize the information received, to draw conclusions, other things that I enjoy as they are formed in the educational system, came from philosophy.
I have also worked in private companies, in the field of services, from the chief of staff to the head of department. I have also had a personal business that has been developing for about 3 years. And then when the question of the first child in the family “laughs” at us (laughs, “aut. Past.”
However, when the issue of the second child “passed”, I decided to contribute more to the activities of the political party. I stopped working in the private sector and thought that a temporary stop would contribute to what I believe. It was a party and government led by Andrius Kubilius at that time.
But somehow the calmer stage of life failed. I had to coordinate in 2012 right away. election campaign. After that, I became the executive secretary of the party, which was a great challenge because I was relatively young, the woman had not been in that position. The Executive Secretary is responsible for the organization and material provision of the entire party. It was a great challenge. More so because a political party operates differently from the business system.
This was followed in 2016. Seimas elections, in which I won the mandate of a Seimas member. I do not know if it is possible to call here a leadership work, rather a concentration, to seek consensus both among colleagues in the group and possibly among political opponents. This work has provided some political experience and insight into how those decisions can work.
Such my experience, I hope, another new challenge will also provide more experience and opportunities to realize what we already have.
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