New guide for families and pregnant women: experts explain the nuances

The day before, the president’s words about a new unified allowance for families with children and for pregnant women sounded like a bolt from the blue. But what about the already existing payments – will there really be two benefits now? .. While citizens are scouring the Internet and calculating future profits, experts are discouraging them. And they are talking about reforming the social assistance system next year.

“The situation with the income of families with children must be constantly monitored,” the president said. And he announced the launch in 2023 of a unified state benefit, which had been in preparation for several years. And then “the formation of a support system for families with children will be completed,” said Tatyana Golikova.

From the side, however, it is not very clear why then it was necessary to make a complex line of age payments: for a child up to 1.5 years old, from 1.5 to 3, from 3 to 7 and 8-17 years. In total, taking into account benefits for single parents and pregnant women, there are six different “names”. But it turns out that this was not just “historical development”, these were steps towards the creation of a new social department.

– In 2023, a new Social Fund will appear, – says lawyer Stanislav Popov. – Merge the PFR and the Social Insurance Fund. So far, this has not been announced, but the matter is settled. And we have been hearing about a single payment for about a year now.

Prime Minister Mishustin gave instructions on this single law, and, most importantly, the relevant law was submitted to the Duma, and one reading has already passed. The payout line has been built since 2018, we looked at where there are holes and closed them, the “zero income” rule has changed….

Now, if there is no income in the family for a long time, and it can be somehow justified, they receive “children’s money”. And the so-called “criteria of need”, also landed. Previously, if a family had a car or some kind of house in the village, they could not get anything because of this – as “too rich”.

The press service of the Ministry of Labor told MK that the new single payment will combine and unify the existing ones: “This will be a comprehensive system of support for families with children, from the birth of a child and upon reaching the age of 17.”

They stressed that the new allowance will “close” the issue of payments for the entire period, from birth to 17 years, if the low income in the family persists. Another new system will help eliminate inconsistencies in the rules for granting payments. This also applies to “pregnant women who are registered at an early date, and mothers who care for children under 1.5 years old.

But this will especially affect regions where local social laws apply. “The payment for the first child, which is provided from the budget in all regions, the payment for the third child from the budget, which is available only in 78 regions and is provided according to different rules,” will be equalized. And also “the allowance for children from 3 to 8 years old, which is paid by the social protection authorities, and the allowance for children from 8 to 17 years old, which is paid by the PFR.”

Two benefits at the same time, unfortunately, will not pay anyone. But the money from the mother’s capital can be spent not only on the second child, as it is now, but on any of the children, if the average per capita income in the family is below two subsistence levels.

Who will lose, who will benefit from the establishment of a single payment? Families with babies under 1.5 years old and a non-working parent will benefit – there is a “solid” amount, about 7 thousand, it is now paid by the Social Insurance Fund. And it is possible that the parents of children under 3 years of age will lose – now all this category of those in need receive a payment of 100% of the subsistence minimum. Those with many children will win, especially in the regions, people will be able to receive money for the third, fourth and subsequent children. Since it is already known that the payment will be graduated (100%, 75% or 50% of the subsistence minimum), its average size will be 14, 10, 5 or 7 thousand rubles.

How they will be counted – this question is also of interest to many. But how will there be so many people in need of social assistance that the rules will tighten again, or will the hard “zero income” return?…

– So far, as I know, the financial situation of the family is still being assessed, – says Stanislav Popov. – They check property, deposits – interest should not be more than the subsistence level in the region. The apartment in which they live and another property in the family, one car is allowed.

It is also interesting that it is not necessary to immediately switch to a single payment, you can receive the old one for the period for which it was determined, and then switch to a single one. Payment must be renewed every year.