Average benefit for disadvantaged families at 738 lei

More than 17,000 Moldovan families received benefits in the seven months to July. A sum of over 64 million lei was allocated from the state budget for paying benefits between December 2008 and August 2009 inclusive, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the press service of the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child. In such districts as Floresti, Hancesti, Nisporeni and Orhei, the recipient families totaled over 1,000, while in Cimislia, Comrat, Vulcanesti, Taraclia districts and in Chisinau’s Centru quarter – 100. The third and last stage of the law on social assistance started to be implemented on July 1, 2009. At the end of the second stage, the persons that received benefits made up 1.77% of Moldova’s population – 2.65% in rural areas and 0.52% in urban areas. The average benefit for a vulnerable family during the first six months was 738 lei or about 192 lei per person. A recipient family consisted of 3.8 persons on average. Until the given law came into force, the benefits were given only to certain groups of people and applicants’ living conditions and need for social assistance were not being taken into account. The law aims to ensure a guaranteed minimum monthly income for deprived families by providing benefits fixed after assessing the aggregate average monthly income of a family and its need for social assistance. The benefit is granted to the entire family, not every member apart. The guaranteed minimum average monthly income is set yearly in the state budget law. The benefit represents the difference between the guaranteed minimum monthly income and the average monthly income of the family. The benefit is given to disadvantaged families, where all the adult members are of retirement age, have disability degrees, are registered as unemployed, look after a child younger than three, care for a family member with the first invalidity degree, a disabled child or a person older than 75, or are in full-time education until graduation, up to the age of 23.