In the Republic of Moldova, poverty has increased, with the elderly and the children being the most affected ones. In villages, 40% of the children live in poverty, said Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Buzu. For these reasons, the state came up with several support programs this year, IPN reports.
“This year too, we continued to help citizens overcome the difficult situation we found ourselves in. This year as well, we had a very low economic growth, practically no growth. Inflation remained quite high. We are still rather vulnerable to what is happening in Ukraine. Energy prices remained rather high. We, within the Government and the Ministry, have focused our efforts on helping individuals, families in Moldova to successfully overcome this difficult period,” Minister Alexei Buzu told a press conference.
According to him, first of all, a compensation system was implemented to help families cover a part of the costs for heating. As many as 777,000 applications for compensation have been registered in the system so far. The cash assistance for the cold period of the year was increased from 700 to 800 lei, while the number of beneficiaries increased to 260,000 households.
Alexei Buzu also spoke about the allowances granted to families with children, families with elderly people and people with disabilities. “Besides pensions, allowances, compensation programs, cash payments for the cold period of the year, the authorities offered one-off payments ranging between 3,000 and 5,000 lei to 157,000 vulnerable families – with elderly, children, people with disabilities,” the minister pointed out.
He also referred to the monthly allowance for veterans, which at the beginning of this year was 700 lei and rose to 1,000 lei by the end of the year. Starting January 1, 2024, the monthly allowance for veterans will be 1,250 lei.
The minister noted that the significant investments made to help families with children with severe disabilities is another accomplishment. This year, the state hired about 900 personal assistants.
