Minimum income support in Serbia: The adequacy of social assistance

Abstract

In this article shall be conducted comparative review of minimum income support programs in the European Union as well as the institutional design of this social protection field in the Republic of Serbia. While some Member States haven't developed national minimum income schemes (Greece and Italy), current legislative regulation in our state recognizes the right to material support to poor population. The basic program of material support is achieved through social assistance payments, while the conditions and amount of financial assistance for beneficiaries are regulated by the Social Protection Law. The aim of this paper is to review adequacy of cash benefits levels of payments in relation to achieve adequate standard of living. Findings suggest that the amount of financial assistance is inadequate to uplift above the absolute poverty line. It is recommended to increase funding for programs of financial assistance or to support the reform of the minimum income which will include development of high-quality services in the community for this category of population.

U ovom članku izvršiće se komparativni prikaz programa podrške minimalnom dohotku u Evropskoj uniji i institucionalnog dizajna ovog dela sistema socijalne zaštite u Republici Srbiji. Dok pojedine države članice nemaju nacionalno razvijene šeme minimalnih prihoda (Grčka i Italija), aktuelno zakonodavno uređenje u našoj državi prepoznaje pravo na materijalnu podršku siromašnoj populaciji. Osnovni program materijalne podrške ostvaruje se kroz novčanu socijalnu pomoć, pri čemu su uslovi i visina naknade za korisnike propisani Zakonom o socijalnoj zaštiti. Cilj ovog rada je preispitivanje adekvatnosti nivoa isplata novčane socijalne pomoći u odnosu na postizanje odgovarajućeg životnog standarda. Nalazi upućuju na zaključak da je visina novčane pomoći neadekvatna za izdizanje iznad apsolutnog praga siromaštva. Preporučuje se povećanje izdvajanja za programe novčane pomoći ili reforma podrške minimalnom prihodu, koja će podrazumevati razvijanje kvalitetnih usluga u zajednici namenjenih ovoj kategoriji stanovništva.