16.01.2023
HOW BENEFITS FOR SINGLE OLD PEOPLE, DISABLED PEOPLE AND ORPHANS ARE CHANGING IN 2023
Single old people over 75 without income will receive BGN 207.90 from June 1 this year. Under the same conditions, access to benefits for people over 65 is BGN 176.40. BGN 83.16 will be received by those who are cohabiting or in a family and for each of the spouses.
With the introduction of the poverty line of BGN 504 as a basis for determining benefits, the circle of people who will receive them will be expanded and their amount will increase.
It will be updated every year along with the poverty line. People with disabilities, children, the elderly and their families receive assistance. Their number is expected to grow from 63 thousand in 2022 to 115 thousand in 2025, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy announced.
Income
The basis for determining the differentiated minimum income until now was the guaranteed minimum income of BGN 75. Now the guaranteed minimum income will be 25% of the poverty line, i.e. BGN 126.
The EC expects that by 2024, monthly social benefits will not be lower than 30% of the poverty line. The requirement is also included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan as a recommendation from Brussels. The differentiated minimum income is determined depending on the number of family members and the number of persons living in one dwelling. It is also related to the age, marital status, health and property status of the persons concerned.
Base
Monthly benefits for disabled people depend on the percentage of disability. For those with 50%, the basis on which the aid will be calculated is BGN 126. For 70% and over 70%, the threshold is BGN 157.50. Orphans up to 16 years of age, and if they are studying - until completing secondary education, but not more than 20 years, from BGN 82.50 it becomes BGN 126. If the child is placed in a family of relatives and friends or in a foster family, the aid is also BGN 126.
Children aged 4 to 16 who study but are allowed to make 5 or more unexcused absences for the relevant month or more than 3 days without good reasons from preschool education will receive less. The monthly allowance for them will still be higher compared to last year, when the threshold was BGN 24.75, but it is significantly lower than that of those who regularly attend school or kindergarten, because it is BGN 37.80. For 16-year-olds who do not study, it is calculated on BGN 25.20. For those who do not have immunizations and preventive examinations or if a personal doctor has not been selected, the amount is also BGN 37.80.
For a child with a permanent disability, the monthly allowance will be BGN 126 from June, the current amount is BGN 82.50. Single parents of a child under 3 will receive BGN 151.20, which is BGN 50 more. After that, if he studies, until he turns 16 he will receive BGN 126. A parent raising a child up to the age of 18 who does not study will receive BGN 25.20 per month. If he still goes to school, but has 5 unexcused absences , the monthly allowance is BGN 37.80. For pregnant women, 45 days before childbirth and a parent raising a child up to 3 years old - BGN 126 is the basis of the differentiated minimum income.
Examples
If in 2022 a person over 65 lives alone and the access limit was BGN 115.50, then after June 1, 2023 this limit will already be BGN 176.40. If he is not entitled to a social pension for old age , this will also be the amount of the monthly allowance, in the absence of other income, explains the Ministry of Health and Welfare. When for a person with a disability of 70 and over 70 percent the access limit was BGN 103.50, from June it will be BGN 157.50, which will be the amount of the monthly allowance.
The limit for receiving aid for an orphan up to the age of 16, provided that he studies until the completion of the 12th grade, but no more than the age of 20, was until now the guaranteed minimum income of BGN 75. Now this limit will be BGN 114.66. and this will be the amount of social assistance. If last year for a child with a permanent disability, up to the age of 18, the access limit was BGN 82.50, then after June 1 this limit will be BGN 126 and the increased amount will be included in the aid the family will receive.
Means
The increase in the funds set aside in the budget for 2025, with which the increased social benefits will be paid, is almost triple, compared to those in the financial framework for 2022. The money for monthly support of vulnerable groups will increase from BGN 37.80 to BGN 126.44 after two years.
A shorter penalty for those who took money without a right
People who have received social assistance for which they are not entitled, it is taken away from them for a certain period of time. The solution is to reduce the terms of the restrictions in cases where this is done due to ignorance or due to various life situations. The term of deprivation of social benefits for a period of no longer than two years becomes no longer than one year, specified by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. The penalty is also reduced when unemployed people receiving social benefits refuse to participate in employment programs. In these cases, the period of deprivation of social benefits is reduced from 1 year to 6 months.
363,890 households with money for heating
300,290 families received money for heating for the winter in the amount of BGN 300, and the money paid was BGN 157,216,829. The households also received the additional BGN 100, which was allocated by a decree of the Council of Ministers. BGN 6.5 million was allocated by the same ministerial decree, as heating funds were taken by another 16,268 households, whose incomes were at the limit and barely included in the norm. With another second decree, another 47,332 families provided themselves with warmth, for which the state allocated just under BGN 14.2 million. A total of BGN 207,952,629 for 363,890 households.
