Gov’t Vows 5 Times Increased Social Support to Vulnerable Children
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, November 5
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has stated that social support for socially vulnerable children under 16 will increase five times and this will be written in the next year state budget.
The current monthly financial support for the socially vulnerable families amounts to 10 GEL and the money will be increased to 50 GEL.
Bakhtadze said that 140,000 children will benefit from the allowance.
The PM said that the decision is not related to the elections and claimed that the issue was placed on the government agenda in the summer when the UNICEF released its Welfare Monitoring Study.
Bakhtadze admitted that only the increased allowance will not better the situation in the country and added that important steps have been taken to meet Georgia’s economic challenges.
The major findings of the UNICEF Welfare Monitoring Study released in the summer included.
General poverty rates in the country increased and a lack of strong and inclusive economic growth, unemployment and increased consumer prices are likely reasons for increased poverty rates.
People’s perception of being in poverty have improved most likely due to a real increase in incomes.
The average out of pocket expenditure on health increased and purchase of medicines remains the main component of healthcare spending.
To cope with economic hardships more families resort to borrowing. Use of financial instruments (banks and pawn shops) considerably increased in poor families.
The gap for the preschool attendance decreased for both urban/rural areas as well as for rich and poor.
6 out of 10 children aged 3-5 from poor families have no or insufficient access to children’s books.
Every fifth child aged 15-18 from the poorest groups is no longer involved in the education.
The opposition believes that the decision is related to the election period.
