Fewer people to qualify for food aid in Latvia from next year

Due to austerity measures, people with low-income status will no longer receive food parcels as of next year. Only people with the official "impoverished" status and people in acute crises will receive them, the Ministry of Welfare (LM) told LETA on October 24.

According to the Ministry's information report, this decision was taken due to the lack of funds for the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) material deprivation program. The changes foresee that as of next year only persons with the status of an impoverished household and persons in crisis, including Ukrainians, will be included in the circle of beneficiaries of food parcels.

Low-income status is granted if the first or only person in the household has a monthly income of no more than €411, and €288 for each additional person in the household. The impoverished status threshold for the first or only person in a household is €343, and €240 for the others.

The LM notes that expenditure on food aid accounts for 87% of the total expenditure on food aid in the ESF+ program. Therefore, only the food part of the expenditure can be significantly "optimized". Other types of support - hygiene, household, food, children's hygiene, and school supplies - have a low financial impact and are therefore not subject to revision, LM notes.

LM said that the EU program for 2021-2027 allocates 22% less funding to the welfare sector than for the 2014-2020 period. The total reduction amounts to €101.2 million.

According to data collected by the Ministry, the number of people receiving support each month this year has been around 55,000, rising to around 60,000 during the winter period. Trends show that this number will remain stable for the foreseeable future. At the same time, the LM forecasts an increase in the number of first-time arrivals from Ukraine from 6,000 to 10,000. Some of them could also qualify for support.

Between 2021 and 2023, the amount of food aid distributed to the most deprived in Latvia exceeded 400,000 food parcels per year. In addition, in 2022 and 2023, a total of more than 153,000 food parcels were distributed to the Ukrainian population.

The actual expenditure for this year so far has been 7.84 million. Based on these figures, the total foreseeable expenditure on aid this year could be around €16 million.

Since 2024, the content of the food kit has been optimized, resulting in a 4.2% reduction in its price, from €26.47 to €25.37.

It has already been announced that from next year, as a result of the change in the amount of food aid, people with the status of deprived person will receive one food kit per quarter instead of the current two.

If the number of recipients of parcels is reduced, around 10,000 people would be affected, representatives of the Society Integration Foundation told LETA.

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