Low-income family: status, documents, social assistance, support and benefits

Naturally, all people want to live in such a way as to be able to afford everything they want. However, in our country, as in many other states, there are still citizens for whom such a life is a dream. A low-income family is a family that has a very limited amount of cash. They are barely enough for the needs of adults and children. Therefore, the state is obliged to help them.

Basic concept

A low-income family is a family whose average income per person does not exceed established by law and regional offices living wage. Moreover, this provision of adults and their children does not depend on them, and they cannot independently change it. That is, the poor cannot be attributed to those people who do not want to work, are addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Naturally, not everyone can get the presented status. Therefore, everyone who wants to receive support from the state should carefully study the Family Code and other legislative acts. For example, a low-income family may even be if it consists of adoptive parents and wards; one parent and child; grandparents and grandchildren. At the same time, help will not be given to spouses who live in a common-law marriage or are officially registered, but do not live together, unless there are exceptions to them in the Code. However, the most important criterion for obtaining status is the level of income.

Where should I go for help?

In order for a low-income family to have the opportunity to enjoy some kind of benefits or receive additional financial assistance you need to know what documents should be collected, as well as where to bring them. There are several places that deal with this status:

• Social support unit at the place of residence of citizens.
• Specialized licensed social service centers.
• Social Security Office.

You can find all information about the location of the organizations represented in the Department of Social Support of the Population or on the website of the State Services Portal.

What documents are needed to obtain status?

A low-income family can get help if it proves that it really has a legal right to it. To do this, draw up the appropriate status. Of course, here you can not do without the collection of certain certificates and other documents. You will need:

1. Statement.
2. Help About family composition.
3. Marriage certificate, as well as documents that certify the birth of children.
4. Certificate from the Housing Office, which proves the absence of any arrears of utility bills.
5. A paper that shows all your income for the last 3 months. Moreover, this document prescribes not only salary, but also pension, alimony, renting a car or living space, fee, scholarship, various benefits or other payments.
6. A low-income family must also provide evidence of movable and immovable property.
7. Documents indicating the receipt of additional social services.
8. Certified copies of passports of adult family members.
9. If parents have a disabled child, then it is necessary to provide a certificate of his condition from a medical institution.

If you have a low-income family, documents from the main list can be supplemented with other papers.It all depends on the rules that are adopted in each particular region of the country.

It should be noted that assistance is provided for six months. Further, if necessary, you can issue it again. The application for status is considered within 10 days. In some cases, the law allows you to extend this period to a month.

Who can get help?

Now let's see who has the right to register the status of a low-income family. It can be:

1. Families consisting of two adults and children, that is, complete. Assistance is provided to them if they have a low overall income, and also if they have a disabled child.
2. Single-parent families with children.
3. Native military personnel who were called up on the agenda.
4. Families with 3 or more children.

Naturally, there are various exceptions prescribed in the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Who is included in the family?

It has already been said that a family can be complete or incomplete in order to obtain status. However, you need to understand who should be included in it in order to be able to arrange assistance. So, the family includes:

1. Spouses.
2. Own or adopted children, as well as wards. In this case, the child must be still a minor.
3. Disabled parents of spouses.
4. Adult children if they have a disability and are not married.

A family is also considered to be those people who have not officially registered their cohabitation, but who have children in common.

When is assistance not provided or canceled?

Naturally, a large number of families cannot provide for themselves only at the expense of official income. However, they are able to have extra income. And it is also taken into account when obtaining the status of a low-income family. Therefore, you should consider those cases in which you should not seek the help of the state. For example, you will not receive payments if:

• There are adults in the family who do not work purposefully, do not study for 3 months before applying. Naturally, there are some exceptions to this rule (for example, if they are forced to stay at home because of their or their loved ones' disability).
• Spouses use alcohol or drugs and do not want to get rid of bad habits.
• The family has a fairly large land plot, the area of ​​which exceeds 0.6 hectares. However, if due to natural conditions or other circumstances these lands cannot be beneficial, then assistance may be provided.
• Family members over the past year made a purchase, the value of which exceeds 10 statutory minimums.
• Adults have an additional source of income besides official salaries.
• The family possesses more than one car or house (apartment).

Social help low-income families can be canceled if the rules for its registration were violated. For example, the applicant has submitted an incomplete list of documents or inaccurate data on the status of the security. Also, subsidies can be canceled if people move to another place of residence. However, there they can re-register their status.

What types of assistance can be provided by the state?

If you decide to draw up some kind of allowance, then the municipal authorities that deal with these issues must decide what type of assistance you need. There are several types of it:

• Material allowance for low-income families or compensation.
• Privileges.
• Non-monetary assistance: providing the family with food, clothing, shoes.

As for payments, they are issued by the Social Security Administration.

What benefits are provided?

Now we should consider what kind of assistance can be provided. The most common form of it is a benefit. This is a specific tool by which social benefits are redistributed. The main feature of the privilege is its temporary nature and a specific purpose.Each year, the list of such tools is reviewed. Some of them no longer work, in addition, new ones may be added. For example, in 2015 in our country, the following benefits apply:

1. A monthly allowance for low-income families with pregnant or lactating women. It should be noted that such assistance is not given in all regions of the state. In addition, payments are made for the birth of a child (one-time), for children under 18 years of age (every month), for a baby under 3 years old per parent. And there is a manual for a first grader (1 time) and the beginning of the school year.
2. Subsidy for housing and utilities. It is given once every six months. Orphans and single mothers can count on her. If there are children of preschool age in a low-income family, then a subsidy for the payment of preschool education may be issued to parents. That is, a certain part of the amount will be compensated to adults.
3. Tax incentives. That is, you have the opportunity to pay a reduced rate or for some time to free yourself from its repayment.
4. Free travel in transport. Especially often this benefit is granted large families. Moreover, transport can be both local and intercity.
5. Free help of qualified lawyers. For example, poor people have the opportunity to receive oral or written advice. A lawyer has the right to represent the interests of the family in court or other state bodies.
6. In addition to paying low-income families money, educational benefits can also be provided. For example, a child may be enrolled in a higher education institution out of competition. Naturally, for this it is necessary to comply with the rules that are prescribed by law.

Features of calculating the amount of assistance

Benefits to low-income families are provided in the amount that is established in each particular region. As for material assistance, it is calculated by the Department of Social Security on the basis of the documents you submitted.

In order to determine whether a family can obtain a low-income status, it is necessary to compare its average per capita income with the minimum subsistence level set in the region. It is reviewed and installed several times a year. Often the service is guided by the federal indicator of the living wage.

In order to determine the average per capita income of a family, it is necessary to calculate the total amount of cash received for the last quarter. Next, divide the resulting figure by 3 and the total number of family members. This is the average income.

Federal or regional assistance?

I must say that the state is obliged to take care of its citizens, who do not have enough money for living, at all levels. There are federal social programs that are mandatory throughout the country. Such benefits are established by the Central bodies of social services.

As for regional programs, they apply only to those people who permanently reside in the indicated territory. They may differ from federal ones. However, both options help complement each other. The regional type is very often granted to refugees and internally displaced persons. For example, the Russian Federation guarantees them compensation for all costs associated with moving and transporting things to a place of temporary stay.

What is targeted assistance? Features of its provision

It represents the implementation of all actions that can make life easier for low-income families, people with disabilities or single citizens. Such assistance to low-income families is provided on the basis of need. That is, social workers should inspect their area and find out who needs to be taken under control. However, the main problem of modern legislation is its vulnerability.The fact is that such a norm can be used by unscrupulous people who, for the sake of getting extra money, can circumvent it. Naturally, in this case, the legislation should be flexible. It is imperative to define some criteria for providing assistance.

There are principles for the implementation of such work:

1. Assistance is provided only to individual citizens without reference to any category.
2. It is necessary to legislatively determine the specific mechanism for making payments or registering benefits, as well as identifying those people who need them.
3. The provision of such assistance must necessarily be justified. For example, a family can prove that its total per capita income is lower than the minimum set by the state.
4. The principle of control. That is, social workers are required to check the status of a low-income family.
5. Responsibility of the recipient. The applicant should know that for providing false data, assistance will not be provided to him. In addition, he may be held responsible for trying to deceive the state.
6. The presence of a single database, which will contain personal information about those people who have already received assistance earlier, need it, or those who have been refused for one reason or another. Thus, the work of social services to identify truly low-income citizens will be facilitated.
7. Joining forces and coordinating the actions of all those organizations that work on the specified profile.

That's all the features of providing low-income families.