Policy Document

Emergency Ordinance 42/2013 modifying Law 416/2001 regarding minimum guaranteed income, and modifying Law 277/2010 regarding family support allowance

Year

2013

Country

Romania

Topic

Family & Children

Subtopic

Family Allowances

Main implications

This modification appears in a period during which the new framework law for social assistance was issued (Law 292 of 2011 concerning social care), in December 2011. Among the modifications brought about by this new provision is the manner in which social benefits are calculated. Thus, establishing the social care benefit level in relation to the social reference index by applying a social insertion index. This way of establishing the benefit level was announced in March 2011, with the strategy concerning the reform in the social care field from 2011-13, and was seen as a specific objective for improving equity. The reference social indicator was introduced through G.E.O. 126/2008 by modifying and completing some legislative acts in order to eliminate the correlations between the level of rights granted from the unemployment insurance budget and the level of the minimum gross salary, and to establish the necessary measure in order to enforce some Community regulations. Actually, this document introduced a new calculation bases for the rights granted by Law no. 76/2002 that are not based on the minimum gross wage, but on the social reference indicator (SRI). The SRI of the unemployment insurances and employment stimulation is defined as a unit expressed in lei to which different cash benefits relate – except for the unemployment benefit, which is paid from the unemployment insurance budget – benefits that are granted in order to protect the persons while unemployed, or to stimulate them to become employed, or the employers to hire those looking for a job. Through the same ordinance, the value of the SRI is established at 500 RON (111 EUR); the value can be modified through a Government Decision based on the price index inflation calculated for the current or the previous year. Until now, its value was not modified. In the social care law, the SRI is defined as a unit expressed in RON to which different social benefits relate, benefits paid from the state budget, given in order to protect the persons within the social care system as well as to stimulate the beneficiaries to get employed. The social insertion index represents the multiplication coefficient applicable to SRI and is established in relation to the type of family and with the aim of social care benefit. The calculation method of SRI is still unexplained, as opposed to the calculation method used before SRI which took into account the minimum gross wages, which is the result of negotiations between the unions, the employer’s association, and the government.

Benefits & Requirements

Coverage: Eligible groups or beneficiaries

No change in the eligible groups

Target group

Family

Types of benefits guaranteed by this document

Cash-Benefits

Conditions for accessing the benefit stipulated by this document

This legal provision increases the income limit up to which the allowance is granted, from 370 lei per family member to 530 per family member (117 Euros/ family member). The two intervals 0-200 per family member and 201-530 per family member were modified and the amount has been increased with 305 since Julie 2013.

The duration of the benefit is determined by the following specific conditions

A certain income threshold per family member.

Read the Law

Original full text source in native language

Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei nr. 287 din 21 mai 2013

Original full text web source in native language

http://www.mmuncii.ro/j33/images/Documente/Legislatie/OUG42-2013.pdf

Comments & Clarifications

Although the income threshold under which one can access the family support allowance was increased, the statistical data, in comparison to 2012, show that the number of beneficiary families has decreased. Probable causes may be the decrease of the birth rate, the suspension of the allowance because of children’s truancies, and because the beneficiaries did not uphold their legal obligations to the local budget (both aspects are legal conditions for receiving the family support allowance).

Secondary Literature & Sources

Secondary literature

- Rat, C. "Saracie si marginalizare sociala in randul familiilor cu copii". In Rotariu, T., & Voineagu, V. "Inertie si schimbare. Dimensiuni sociale ale tranzitiei". Polirom, Iasi (2012):179-198.
- Inglot, T., Szikra, D., & Rat, C. "Familiy Policy in Poland, Hungary and Romania since 2000". Problems of Post-Communism 59 (6) (2012): 27-49.

Links to databases and sources for the analysis or evaluation of this policy field

http://www.mmuncii.ro/pub/imagemanager/images/file/Statistica/Buletin%20statistic/2011/Asistenta%202011%20site.pdf; http://www.mmuncii.ro/j33/images/buletin_statistic/Asist_2013.pdf
http://www.mmuncii.ro/j33/images/buletin_statistic/Asistan2012.pdf; http://www.mmuncii.ro/pub/imagemanager/images/file/Legislatie/ORDONANTE-DE-GUVERN/OUG%20124-2011.pdf

Author

Cornelia Muresan, Paul-Teodor Haragus & Adina Rebeleanu
Babes-Bolyai University

Data collected in the framework of the Population Europe Research Finder and Archive (PERFAR)

Cite as

SPLASH-db.eu (2014): Policy: "Emergency Ordinance 42/2013 modifying Law 416/2001 regarding minimum guaranteed income, and modifying Law 277/2010 regarding family support allowance" (Information provided by Cornelia Muresan, Paul-Teodor Haragus & Adina Rebeleanu). Available at: https://splash-db.eu [Date of access].