From January, child allowances should increase by 200 crowns, the government approved
Update: 16/11/2022 16:21
Issued by: 11/16/2022, 2:43 p.m
Prague – From January, child allowances should be increased by 200 crowns, the proposal of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is now provided by the government. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) informed journalists about the approval of the proposal. Allowances should now range from 830 to 1,580 crowns per month. Together with the proposal to increase allowances, the government sends to the House of Representatives a proposal to compare the conditions of the housing allowance in the amendment on state social support.
Households with a net income of up to 3.4 times the subsistence minimum are entitled to child benefits. Depending on the age of the child, they now receive 630, 770 or 880 crowns per month. In families where at least one parent works, studies, is on parental leave or has a pension, the benefit is 500 crowns higher. It now amounts to 1130 crowns, 1270 crowns or 1380 crowns per month.
The ministry is also preparing a regulation that plans to increase the living and subsistence minimum from January, which will entitle you to child benefits or other benefits for a larger group of beneficiaries. According to Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS), the changes should take effect from next year.
In the case of housing allowance, the government wants to unify the conditions for entitlement to housing allowance for residents of the capital city of Prague and for residents of other municipalities, which so far make up 35 percent in Prague and 30 percent in other municipalities of eligible personal or family income. It should now be 30 percent for all municipalities. The benefit then corresponds to the difference between the actual expenses – but no more than the ceiling set by the state or norms – the new 30 percent of income.
In the amendment to the Act on State Social Policy, the government also plans to determine the amount of costs comparable to rent, the amounts that are counted for solid fuels, and part of the normative housing costs for next year. He wants to extend for next year the extraordinary increase in the monthly normative costs for housing, as well as the existing modification of the entitlement to the housing allowance for those who use their own cottages or cottages for permanent housing. In the tables, he wants to unify the amounts for one-person and two-person households. The new proposed rules are to be used for the first time to determine the allowance for January 2023.
The amendment to the Living and Existing Minimum Act, filed simultaneously, proposes to make some adjustments to the countable income of the period, as adjusted in the state social support system. “It is proposed that the income from the dependent activity of a dependent child throughout the year and the income of a dependent child from self-employment for the period July and August should not be considered as income. So that, especially in excluded localities, there is no early termination of children’s studies due to the reduction of benefits in material need, therefore that a dependent child will receive income from practical teaching and practical training, it is also suggested not to include this income,” the authors of the news report state.
The Ministry of Labor estimates the monthly cost of the housing allowance for next year at 1.11 billion crowns, of which 923 million crowns represent costs for the current recipient and 189 million crowns are estimated for the cost of the new recipient’s housing allowance. The resort estimates annual costs at around 13.3 billion crowns. The ministry estimated the impact of the increase in the child allowance at around 66 million extra crowns per year.
Since they are supposed to apply from January, according to the approved proposal, the House of Representatives should discuss the bill in an abbreviated session in a state of legislative emergency.