Social assistance for low-income persons could be higher than nominal compensations

No nominal compensations for new beneficiaries will be set from January 1, 2010. The Government introduced the relevant amendments to the law on special social protection of April 14, 2000, Info-Prim Neo reports. Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Valentina Buliga said the persons who receive nominal compensations will continue to receive them until this right expires. The new applicants will be supported financially through the law on social assistance of June 13, 2008 if their monthly incomes do not exceed 530 lei, which is the minimum guaranteed by the state. According to Valentina Buliga, the modification of the law on special social protection is a first step towards making the social assistance system more effective, ensuring social equity when distributing the financial resources allocated from the state budget and directing the social assistance to disadvantaged families according to their incomes. A number of 256,000 persons forming part of 11 groups of people are now provided with nominal compensations. 20,000 new recipients are included in this system yearly. The average monthly nominal compensation for a person is 122 lei. About 29 million lei a year will be saved if no new nominal compensations are set. Buliga said that more than 17,500 vulnerable families benefit from social assistance at present. A sum of 114 million lei was allocated from the state budget for the purpose. “Some of the families on low income receive relatively low nominal compensations. If they are provided with social support under the law on social assistance, these families will benefit from larger sums if their real incomes do not exceed the minimum guaranteed by the state,” the minster said.