On 26 January, the Government adopted a resolution that expands the possibilities for granting low-income assistance so that families at risk of poverty can make more active use of it.

In particular, previously, low-income families could not be granted assistance if there were able-bodied persons in the family who were not working or had not paid the unified social contribution for the previous 3 months before applying for this assistance. In fact, this made it impossible for IDP families who had been displaced and lost their jobs as a result of relocation, as well as for families of forced Ukrainian migrants returning from abroad after a long stay.

This situation has now changed. As the Government aims to support IDPs and Ukrainians returning from abroad who have not yet found employment in Ukraine and do not have their personal sources of income, the assistance will be granted for 6 months:

• for families returning to Ukraine after a long (more than 90 consecutive days) stay abroad, even if such families have able-bodied unemployed persons who have not paid the unified social tax;
• for families of internally displaced persons who, as a result of displacement, did not work or did not pay the unified social contribution.

At the same time, to help Ukrainians return to an economically independent and self-sufficient life, the payment of low-income assistance is combined with employment incentives.

Thus, if there are able-bodied persons in the family of IDPs or returning migrants who are not working, after receiving low-income assistance, they must promote their economic independence within two months of receiving the assistance, i.e. either find a job or register with the State Employment Centre so that the Centre's specialists can help them find a job or, if necessary, undergo retraining and requalification.

As a reminder, low-income assistance is provided to families whose total income does not exceed the subsistence level for a family, as it is currently (for able-bodied persons, this is 55% of the subsistence level (UAH 1,665.4), for children - 140% (for those under 6 years of age - UAH 3,588.2, for those aged 6-18 - UAH 4,474.40), for persons who have lost their ability to work - 100% (UAH 2,361). Thus, the allowance is calculated as the difference between the subsistence level for a family and its average monthly total income.