Social assistance standard increased by 38.9%, to 500,000 VND/month

The Government has just issued a Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 20/2021/ND-CP dated March 15, 2021 of the Government regulating social assistance policies for social protection beneficiaries.

Accordingly, the Decree adjusts the social assistance standard from VND 360,000/month to VND 500,000/month, an increase of 38.9%, meeting one-third of the poverty standard in rural areas and one-quarter of the poverty standard in urban areas for the period 2021-2025.

It is estimated that the total budget in 2024 is VND 32,293 billion, an increase of VND 4,718 billion, to be implemented in the last 6 months of the year. This resource is to implement monthly social allowances with a social assistance standard of VND 500,000/month for about 3.356 million social protection beneficiaries and 349,000 beneficiaries of care funding support.

Currently, the whole country has about 3.3 million people receiving social benefits (Photo: Danh Khang).

Raising the monthly social assistance standard to ensure the livelihood of social protection beneficiaries is in accordance with Resolution No. 42-NQ/TW dated November 24, 2023 of the 13th Party Central Committee on continuing to innovate and improve the quality of social policies, meeting the requirements of national construction and defense in the new period, the 2013 Constitution and under the authority of the Government.

For policies to exempt certain services, the state budget will not provide funding; agencies, organizations and individuals providing services will implement them, without increasing state budget expenditures.

Previously, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs submitted to the Government a Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 20/2021/ND-CP dated March 15, 2021 of the Government regulating social assistance policies for social protection beneficiaries.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that after nearly 3 years of taking effect, the implementation of Decree No. 20 has encountered a number of problems and difficulties that need to be studied, revised, supplemented and perfected to suit the practical situation.

In particular, the standard level of social assistance increases slowly compared to the process of reforming social insurance policies, pensions, poverty reduction and subsidies for people with revolutionary contributions.

This standard is also very low compared to the minimum living standard of the people, only 24% of the rural poverty line for the period 2021-2025, currently applied at 1.5 million VND.

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that up to now, the whole country has about 3.356 million people, accounting for about 3.356% of the population, receiving monthly social benefits in the community.

This figure includes 1.4 million people receiving subsidies for the elderly, 1.6 million people receiving subsidies for the disabled, 21,000 children without a source of support, 146,000 children under 3 years old, 84,000 single people raising children under 16 years old, and more than 349,000 households caring for and supporting people with severe disabilities and social protection beneficiaries.

Every year, the state budget has allocated more than 27,000 billion VND to implement social assistance policies and issue health insurance cards to social protection beneficiaries.

The full implementation of social assistance policies and regimes has contributed to stabilizing life and ensuring social security for social protection beneficiaries, while contributing to stabilizing security, order, social safety and political stability of the country.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/an-sinh/muc-chuan-tro-giup-xa-hoi-tang-389-len-moc-500000-dongthang-20240701210933541.htm