The Accounting Chamber questioned the effectiveness of social contracts to help in a difficult situation

Social contracts for overcoming a difficult life situation turned out to be insufficiently effective, the Accounting Chamber (AC) noted in a July report on the results of the support measure, which was reviewed by Izvestia. It is available to the poor who are left without income and the opportunity to find a job quickly, for example, after losing a breadwinner, becoming disabled or losing their home.

The auditors note that such assistance is limited to payments to cover current needs and does not encourage a person to change their life situation. Although the main task of the social contract is to help get out of poverty. Last year, almost 2 billion rubles were allocated for this area, but only a few were able to overcome poverty — less than a third of the recipients.

"The priority for the social protection authorities is to provide a long—term basis for the financial well-being of the family. That is why the main focus in the provision of a social contract is on areas related to finding a job or starting a business," said Andrey Galkin, Director of the Department of Demographic and Family Policy at the Ministry of Labor.

As a result, the Accounting Chamber recommended that the Ministry of Labor reduce the number of social contracts to overcome a difficult situation and redirect some of the funds to more effective measures, in particular, to help veterans of their military.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Assistance plan: social contracts to help in a difficult situation proved ineffective