Elmira Zaripova: ‘Families with children account for the majority of the poor population, which is around 90%’

Family’s wealth to be taken into account

145,000 families are officially acknowledged poor in Tatarstan. These parents bring up one or two children, while more than a third of them are large families. As the head of the Tatarstan Ministry of Employment and Social Protection explained, those citizens whose monthly per capita income in the family doesn’t exceed the minimum wage are considered poor, while the minimum wage is 9,955 rubles.

Last year, the families that have children from 3 to 7 years received fixed benefits — 50% of the minimum wage. Now the amount of payouts can increase. But only those families where a child has money below the fixed minimum wage will be able to get 75% and even 100%. So the state is intending to combat poverty. According to the Russian president’s instruction, the number of the poor is to reduce twice in the country by 2030.

“Families with children account for the majority in the poor population of the republic, they total around 90%. If we have a closer look at the age of these children, unfortunately, it is preschool children,” Minister of Employment and Social Protection of Tatarstan Elmira Zaripova said.

But when parents receive a salary under the table, we often can’t bring ourselves to call them poor. To make the aid targeted, a family’s wealth will be taken into consideration now too. In other words, if a family has a flat or a number of flats, but the total area per family member is above 24 square metres and at the same time per capita family income is below 9,955 rubles according to official documents, they won’t see the child benefit. The same happens if a family owns several houses: if a family member has more than 40,000 square metres, the family won’t receive money from the state.

Also, the possession of a car will be considered when paying the benefits. The money won’t be allocated if the car was bought less than five years, while its engine is over 250 horsepower. But if a family has four or more children and it is a van with at least five seats, the benefits will be paid.

In addition, a family can have a tractor, combine harvester or bike, but no more than one. The age of the machinery also plays a role — old vehicles, those that have run more than five years and more won’t be taken into consideration. But there are exceptions here too, the minister noted: either a large family or a family that brings up a disabled child can own two cars, which means there are two garages or two parking lots and if the car was received as a social support measure.

Only official data provided by the Russian Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography and the tax inspection will be considered when allocating compensations. Those families that won’t be considered poor will likely be denied the payouts from the state.

All incomes to be counted: from salary and pension to scholarship and alimony

By the way, a family’s income for the previous year will be counted too. An application is submitted only once a year, while the money will be paid for 12 months. To get the child benefit, it is enough to submit an application online on the website of the State Services. Later, everything will be automatic, the application will be approved for a month. The decree of the Russian government on support measures for low-income families includes a series of other novelties. So these citizens can hope for benefits:

• families with children they care for who couldn’t receive benefits earlier;
• families with disabled children, since the compensation of 10,000 rubles, which was paid for a child with disabilities, hasn’t been counted in incomes since 1 April;
• families with children under 23 who study at university if only they study full-time.
• care for a disabled child or a child who is disabled from birth, a disabled person or an old person over 80;
• unemployment if the official registration in the Employment Centre isn’t longer than 6 months;
• long-term treatment;
• maternity leave if a child is under 3;
• care for children if it is one of the parents with many children or the only parent;
• full-time education for family members under 23;
• service in the army, and another 3 months after demobilisation;
• imprisonment as well as a three-month period after being released from prison.

The speaker also enumerated income sources that will be considered when allocating benefits. It is work record or artistic activities, income from entrepreneurship or being self-employed, pension and scholarship, different social payouts as well as alimonies.

Official care is another condition in which low-income families can count on public money for children, Zaripova specified. The government thinks that if a child’s parents declare zero income, it was likely hidden. But this case has exceptions too. Parents will be able to receive money if their zero income was caused by objective reasons:

Number of large families in Tatarstan grows by 2% a year

According to Zaripova, support for families with children in our region “has always been a priority”, while the amount of payouts rose by 11% compared to 2020, to 15,7bn rubles. She enumerated about 10 different payouts Tatarstan residents receive from the republican and federal budgets. Compensations for kindergarten and fee-free kindergarten for large families are among unique cases initiated by the regional government.

Tatarstan residents decide to have a third or next child more willingly, which is proved by statistics. The number of large families annually increases by 1-2%. And today the republic already has more than 40,000 large families, though there were only around 30,000 in 2016.

Compensation for medication, housing bills, transport are also among local support measures. In case a triplet is born, the family receives a one-time payout of 10,000 rubles per baby besides standard payouts. Women living in the countryside for no less than three years receive 50,000 rubles if they give birth to the firstborn under 25, 100,000 rubles under 29 years. Recipients of subsidies often spend this money on common family needs, the minister said, to repay loans, a mortgage or pay the first instalment when buying a house.