Instead of the current four benefits – child allowance, housing allowance, living allowance and housing supplement – a single allowance will be introduced, which, according to the Ministry of Labour, will take into account everything that a given household is entitled to.
The applicant submits only one application instead of up to four, which can be processed online from home in addition to a personal visit to one of the branches of the labor office.
“Most households in a difficult financial situation today draw a combination of several different benefits, which can be complex and complicated both for themselves and for the state in terms of administration,” said Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL).
In addition, according to him, the current three-decade-old system is not motivating enough. “Our goal is to support citizens’ efforts to take care of themselves, not just rely on the state and passively wait for support,” added Jurečka.
Greater control over assets
The tipping points are to be removed for the new benefit, when a person loses state aid if his earnings exceed one crown. The support will be different for households with an income up to 1.43 times the subsistence minimum and above.
The household could have two properties, two cars or savings of no more than 200 to 400 thousand crowns, depending on the number of its members.
Support for housing should continue for people who spend more than 30 percent of their income on an apartment or accommodation. Families with an income below four times the minimum would receive money per child instead of the current 3.4 times for child allowances. The subsistence portion would only go to households with an income below 1.43 times the subsistence minimum of their members.
Help can increase the work bonus. In the event that there is no able-bodied member in the household, the housing benefit component, or the child component, will be preferred.
Criticism from the opposition and non-profit sector
Not only the opposition, but also other departments, ombudsman, regions, associations of municipalities, organizations to help the needy or trade unions have reservations about the amendment.
“I don’t like the fact that it mixes family and poor people’s benefits,” the shadow minister of labor for the ANO movement, Aleš Juchelka, criticized the proposal. “Everyone who is in financial need receives child benefit. But not all those who receive it receive an allowance in material need,” said Juchelka, adding that due to the planned means tests, families may lose child allowances.
The concerns are also shared by the Platform for Social Housing, which specializes in the availability of housing and social exclusion. Although she appreciated that the reform is trying to go in the right direction in a number of aspects.
“Simplifying the system can help with the availability of benefits for people who have the right to use them, but do not apply for them due to the complexity of the system. At the same time, however, the system brings a new wave of tightening benefits and reducing their amount for a number of beneficiaries. This is completely inadequate in the current economic situation,” commented the director of the platform, Barbora Bírová.
