The standard of living in our country, despite the positive growth dynamics in some sectors of the economy, still remains rather low. Therefore, today it is especially important to inform Russians about the rules and procedures for obtaining the status of a poor citizen, as well as about possible ways of material support, preferential conditions and various subsidies. All issues of social security in this category of the population are dealt with by local authorities.
Who can claim
In our country, in order to obtain the status of "poor", citizens must provide to the appropriate organization all the data on their monthly cash receipts, during calculations this criterion will be the main, but not the only one. The level of per capita income should not exceed the minimum indicator for the country. It also takes into account the fact that family members live together, the presence of children, people with disabilities or other dependents.
In order to accurately understand who is among the poor, it is necessary to become more familiar with the regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation. They indicate that this category of population may include:
- spouses
- adoptive parents and adopted;
- guardians and their wards;
- stepfathers, stepdaughters, stepsons;
- grandchildren, grandmothers, parents, children;
- single-parent families.
When considering the application, the specialists also take into account the legality of the provision of such a service. So, people who specifically shy away from work, drink and lead an immoral lifestyle cannot be recognized as in need of social assistance.
How the average per capita indicator is calculated
The main question that interests low-income families is: what income should they have in order to obtain the appropriate status? The formula for determining the average family income depends on a number of factors. In each case, the calculation takes the amount of the subsistence minimum established by the state with Rosstat data on consumer prices and their level.
The amount will depend on the category of citizens (able-bodied, pensioners - working or not, children, etc.), as well as on the region of residence. Those who claim to receive the status of “poor citizens” can independently calculate whether their income is equal to the cost of living - in 2017, this is 9662 rubles. To do this, you must:
1. Add up the entire family income for the last three months: salaries, benefits, profits, etc. It does not take into account:
- pensions to participants of the Great Patriotic War, parents and widows of dead soldiers;
- allowances for children from the regional budget;
- preferential payments to veterans;
- sales of products of own production, etc.
2. This amount is divided by the number of months - 3 - and the number of family members.
If the value does not exceed the minimum subsistence level established by the state, you can apply for a status.
Types of state support to the population
Specific assistance to the poor depends on the region where they live, as the financing of this social program comes from the local budget. As a rule, support is provided in several areas:
- Cash benefits.
- Assistance is provided in the form of the issuance of clothing, shoes, medicines, food, etc.
- Tax benefits, compensation for housing services.
- Social benefits for families with children (the conditions in each region are different), lump-sum benefits for pregnant women or to prepare for school.
- Monthly allowance for a third child.
- Subject to the recognition of this category of citizens as needing housing, they can apply for a state-provided apartment under a social contract of employment or rely on special conditions for mortgage lending.
Children from low-income families have the right to a preferential order of admission to secondary vocational or higher educational institutions, as well as to receive scholarship payments.
Documents, registration procedure
Not all the population of our country understands to the end who belongs to poor citizens. Such ignorance leads to the fact that most of the families that can receive real help simply don’t know about it and remain without the state support put to them. In order to dispel all doubts, at the first stage it is necessary to calculate your average income and contact the social security authorities at the place of residence.
In order for a person or family to be recognized as poor, you will have to provide the following package of documents:
- all copies of an identity card (passport);
- certificate of family composition;
- a document from guardianship authorities that adults were not deprived of parental rights;
- Marriage certificate;
- for all working family members - income statements.
In addition, you will need to provide a work book and details of an electronic card for charging funds.
What to look for
It should be understood that poor citizens cannot be recognized as such without confirmation of an official job placement, or they must be registered with the local Employment Center. If this condition is violated, or if the fact of deceiving social service employees is revealed, the service will be denied to citizens, and this action may be considered by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as fraud.
Calculations of per capita income are made without the inclusion of mandatory tax assessments. And in the certificate from the place of work, all data should be indicated with a description of the grounds for each specific case: salary, bonus, vacation pay, etc.
Poor citizens will have to confirm their status in a year with a new package of relevant papers.
Where to go: regulatory authorities
Together with documents and an application for recognition of a family in need of assistance from the state, a citizen must apply to the ministry or department of social protection of the population. Some papers have a limited validity period, so it is best to submit a request as soon as possible.
An application for recognition of a citizen as a poor is usually considered within ten working days, and in some cases up to a month. If all the conditions for the procedure are met and you have confirmed a certain status, you can immediately contact the administration at the place of residence to receive cash payments or other type of support.
Possible reasons for failure
Not everyone has this process going smoothly, sometimes regulatory authorities issue a decision to refuse. Typically, the reasons are:
- Inconsistency of the reported total profit for the reporting quarter with the figures that poor families should have. What income is required to be included in the social program was discussed above.
- A complete set of documents is presented to her, or they are written with errors and corrections.
- Data is inaccurate or untrue.
If the problem is only in misspelling or technical errors, you will be called to re-fill the forms. In all other cases, you can always apply for justice to higher social protection bodies or to a court.
The nuances of receiving cash payments
Helping the poor is aimed at improving the standard of living of this category of citizens, reducing indicators of social inequality and increasing the availability of services for every person in need. Moreover, material support is provided both at the regional and federal levels.
Each constituent entity of the Russian Federation establishes its own amounts of allowances and subsidies; these figures can be found in more detail on the official websites of social protection of the population or by contacting the structure directly. It should be understood that all revenues are possible from tax deductions, so that in a difficult economic situation there is a possibility of a temporary cessation of payments or a decrease in material support.
Privileges
Assistance from the regional budget usually amounts to a rather small amount, but it is still a good help for a low-income family. These conditions apply only to each specific area.
However, you need to know that at the federal level you are entitled to mandatory benefits. Poor citizens can apply for housing subsidies, a revision of the percentage of tax deductions, or free legal aid. The state also provides support to such categories of people as internally displaced persons and refugees.
Provision of housing to low-income citizens is possible under a social contract of employment. This program does not work in all regions, but where it exists, the pace of construction of suitable housing is very slow, since financing comes mainly from the local budget.
Regulatory documents
Each constituent entity of the Russian Federation is developing its own regulations establishing benefits for the poor, amounts of payments and types of subsidies. These regulatory documents, in turn, are based on the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and on the main federal laws that oversee this area of social activity.
The rights of poor citizens are taken into account in the following provisions:
- No. 178-FZ of the Russian Federation “On State Social Assistance” dated July 17, 1999.
- Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On the Procedure for Accounting for Incomes and Calculation of the Per capita Income of a Family and the Income of a Lonely Living Citizen for Recognizing them Poor and Providing them with State Social Assistance” dated April 5, 2003
- No. 188- “Housing Code of the Russian Federation” dated 12.29.04.
- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 14, 2005 No. 761 “On the provision of subsidies for the payment of housing and utilities”.
Every Russian citizen who finds himself in a difficult life situation, subject to certain conditions, has the right to receive various forms of social support from the state.