A new rule is proposed for determining eligibility for childcare benefits in Azerbaijan.
According to Operative Information Center-OMM, the requirement is included in a draft law on amendments to the Law on Social Insurance.
Under the draft, applicants would need at least six months of social insurance coverage to qualify for childcare benefits.
Currently, there is no minimum social insurance coverage requirement for the benefit. As employment procedures become electronic and simpler, people may be hired for a short period without having genuinely entered the labor market and then take social leave to care for a child. This creates a risk of abuse, including the establishment of formal employment relationships solely to obtain a state-funded benefit and the creation of such relationships between close relatives or other individuals.
The draft proposes the six-month requirement to prevent these risks, ensure a consistent approach within the social insurance system and align the mechanism for awarding childcare benefits with other similar social insurance payments.
The childcare benefit currently amounts to 44 manats for the period until a child turns 18 months and 28 manats from 18 months to three years. These amounts were last increased in 2018. Their low level compared with current macroeconomic indicators, including the minimum and average monthly wages, makes further action in this area necessary.
However, the absence of a minimum social insurance coverage requirement could enable people to misuse the system through short-term insurance contributions. The existence of these risks limits the scope for broader measures to increase the benefit.
The six-month requirement is therefore proposed to improve the legal framework for childcare benefits, establish a consistent approach within the social insurance system, prevent potential abuse and enable the benefit to be raised to an adequate level in the future.
