The number of recipients of minimum income and social assistance benefits fell by 4.6 percent in 2021 – just like in 2020. The trend continues this year, despite the pandemic and inflation. Minister of Social Affairs Johannes Rauch (Greens) sees the reason for this in the support services. They would have mitigated the social consequences of the corona pandemic. He was “confident that the measures against the current price increases will have an equally positive effect,” Rauch said on Thursday.
According to Statistics Austria’s minimum income and social assistance statistics, 264,752 people received social assistance or a minimum income in 2021. They lived in 151,922 so-called need communities – mostly households or shared apartments. This corresponds to a decrease of approximately 12,900 people or 4.6 percent compared to 2020.
20% decrease since 2017
Spending on minimum income and social assistance last year totaled EUR 966 million. This corresponds to only 0.73 percent of total Austrian social expenditure in this period. For example, the share of the minimum income or social assistance has fallen by 20 percent since 2017.
Women and children most affected
Eight percent of the recipients had a job and wages so low that they needed minimum income or social assistance. 35 percent were unemployed. More than half (51 percent) of all recipients of minimum benefits or social assistance were unable to participate in the labor market because of their age (children, students, seniors) or poor health condition, a further five percent cared for children or relatives who cared for them . Children (36 percent of recipients) and women (34 percent) in particular often need support, with men accounting for 29 percent.
smoke for targeted help
For Rauch, it is “particularly gratifying that the trend continues this year”. The support must remain organized in such a way that people with a low income are also helped effectively. He will “continue to ensure that people who really need our help get the support they urgently need,” the Social Affairs minister assured.
This year, social assistance has improved in a number of areas – by removing, as Rauch put it, the “biggest poisonous teeth” from the Basic Law. The states now have more leeway in shaping their laws, enabling improvements for residents of women’s shelters or forms of assisted living. The 13th and 14th monthly salary no longer has to be counted towards social assistance and there is now a hardship clause for people who were previously not entitled to social assistance benefits.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
