The Ministry of Labor has proposed adjusting the payments of child benefits to needy families with children from three to seven years old, in order to limit assistance to suspiciously poor families with low incomes but substantial assets. This is stated on March 12 in the draft amendments, which will take effect from April 1 this year.
The authenticity of the document to Izvestia was confirmed by two sources close to the government.
In particular, the measures may affect families who have several houses with an area of more than 40 square meters. m per person, dacha, garage, one car, one motorcycle and savings in the amount of more than 250 thousand rubles. Thus, the department intends to make assistance to low-income families more targeted and effective.
The Ministry of Labor proposes to retain the right to receive payments in the absence of official income, including for those caring for a child under three years old, a disabled child, a disabled person or an elderly person over 80 years old.
Good reasons for not having formal income would be:
- emergency service;
- the official status of the unemployed;
- full-time education for family members under 23 years old.
The day before, the Ministry of Labor announced that the size of “children’s” payments is planned to be increased by 50-100% of the subsistence minimum in the subject per child, if the basic amount of payments does not allow the family to cross the poverty line. The basic level of payments is 50% of the regional subsistence level per child. The corresponding decree was signed on the same day by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the current conditions of the program, in order to receive assistance from the state, family income must be below the poverty line established in the region. Because of this, the recipients of payments were often formally unemployed people with high “gray” incomes.
