Why four children are not enough to assess a family's need in Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, when determining a family's welfare category, not only the number of children is considered but also the parents' income, employment, housing and property. This approach was illustrated with two conditional examples. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

In the families of Didar and Yerlan, there are two adults and four children each.

Didar has his own housing and stable employment. If the family owns additional property or a business, this is also taken into account. Such a family may fall into category "A": it is assumed to have greater opportunities to support itself and less need for social support.

Yerlan's family lives in a small apartment, and the adults work as employees. They have less money and property. Therefore, it may fall into category "C", which means a higher need for assistance.

"Two families may have the same composition and the same number of children, but at the same time differ significantly in living conditions and level of provision," the Ministry of Labor's explanation states.

They look not only at how many adults and children are in the family, but also at where they live, how much they earn and what they own. Housing characteristics and parents' employment are also taken into account.

At the same time, owning an apartment does not mean the family is well-off, and working as an employee does not mean it needs assistance. The category depends on the combination of these circumstances.

Earlier, "Kursiv" wrote that women who worked before the birth of a child will retain social payments from 2027 regardless of the family's income. As explained by MP Lyazzat Kozhakhmet, social contributions were made for them, so the State Social Insurance Fund will continue to pay 40% of their previous earnings until the child turns one and a half years old.

For non-working women, the benefit will depend on the family's need. According to the MP, about 11 thousand recipients from families in welfare categories A and B may lose it.

Kazakhstanis will be able to find out their category using a family welfare assessment calculator. The Ministry of Labor promised to launch it on October 16–17. The service should show which of the five welfare categories the family belongs to.