Social assistance, subsidies and reduced payments
Measures to mitigate price increases
Information on measures regarding high energy and food prices.
The risk-of-poverty rate has been falling over the last three years and the effectiveness of social transfers in Slovenia is high compared to other European countries. As a result of our measures, 44.6% (2017) of people live above the poverty threshold, while the European average is 35%. In the last three years, the amounts of social assistance benefits in cash, extraordinary social assistance benefit in cash, funeral allowances and death grants have been raised. We have expanded the range of income supplement beneficiaries and ensured that all pensioners with a full pensionable service are guaranteed an old age pension in the amount of 500 euros per month.
In the area of child benefits, the austerity measure from 2012 has been repealed in its entirety with the restitution of the seventh and eighth brackets. The Claim Enforcement and Security Act has been amended so that it is no longer possible to confiscate social assistance benefits in cash, income supplement, child benefit and similar benefits.
In addition to the provision of social assistance, subsidies and reduced payments, considerable attention is paid to the programme of social activation. Poverty can also cause a loss of social relations and such exclusion is a wider issue in our society. That is why we will continue directing our resources towards helping people that are facing long-term unemployment and greater social exclusion.
Numerous forms of assistance
We help individuals and families through various forms of social assistance, subsidies and reduced payments that they can claim at their local Social Work Centre. Within the framework of the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, we distribute food products and organise activities aimed towards greater social inclusion. In addition, we provide various forms of assistance to individuals and groups who find themselves in social distress through various social assistance programmes. We develop programme networks for individual fields of activity or individual target groups, i.e. the prevention of violence, addiction, mental health, assistance to the homeless, children and adolescents, and the elderly.
In Slovenia, as in many other countries, a significant amount of tasks connected with social inclusion are carried out by non-governmental organisations. In areas where these can be more effective than the Government, we will promote their faster and more efficient development.