Ukraine introduces a new type of state support – several types of social payments are combined into one
On Thursday, May 28, the Verkhovna Rada supported in principle the draft law on basic social assistance for low-income families. This concerns draft law No. 15094.
The document provides for the introduction of a new type of state support — basic social assistance. It will be granted upon application to low-income families in case of refusal of other types of assistance, including payments for children to single mothers, assistance to large families, as well as assistance to children whose parents evade alimony payments or cannot support the child.
The draft law also allows simultaneous receipt of basic social assistance and payments to persons who have reached retirement age but do not have sufficient insurance record to be granted a pension.
It is envisaged that the amount of the basic amount will be determined by the law on the State Budget for the respective year and cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons.
The size of the basic amount for a family will be set at 100 percent of the basic amount for the first family member (authorized family representative) and 100 percent of the basic amount for each subsequent family member, and for other persons with disabilities, amounts will be established as determined by the Cabinet of Ministers, etc.
Basic state social assistance as a unified and comprehensive type of social support for low-income families will include:
- conducting an individual assessment of the needs of low-income households and drawing up individual plans for the provision of social services based on it;
- providing targeted comprehensive assistance to families (payments and social services) according to their individual needs;
- implementing measures to encourage able-bodied social assistance recipients to return to the labor market and achieve the financial stability of the family.
The purpose of the draft law is to introduce European approaches to providing state social support for the most vulnerable categories of citizens, which include:
- integration of the system of cash payments to families in difficult life circumstances and the system of providing social services to such families based on an individual approach to each family;
- introduction of proactive social support for low-income families, which involves identifying families in need of assistance, helping them with document processing, and expanding the accessibility of state social support services at the place of residence of families in the community.
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