Next year, persons with low-income status will still continue receiving two sets of food products per quarter, whereas poor residents will continue receiving food packages until the expiry of the certificate issued by the social service confirming their status, as decided by the Latvian government on Tuesday, the 10th of December.
As LETA was informed by the Ministry of Welfare, the government agreed the provision of food aid at the current level to the poorest groups of people in the country – Latvian residents and Ukrainian refugees bearing poor people status – are the absolute priority. Additional funding is to be allocated towards this.
The ministry notes that it was concluded in discussions with various institutions, European Commission, and society that the initial decision to lower food aid to a single food aid package per quarter should not be supported.
This is why as of the 1st of January 2025, the poorest residents – families with poor household status and households in crisis, including Latvian residents and Ukrainian civilians – will still receive the same amount of food aid as before – two sets of food products per person every quarter. Other forms of aid and their volume will remain. This includes hygiene and household goods packages and support packages for babies and pupils.
At the same time, the intention to no longer issue food packages to people with low-income status was not changed from next year.
Additionally, an agreement has been reached on a transitional period, namely, low-income households, who are currently entitled to receive food packages and who have been issued a certificate on the status of a low-income household by the municipal social service in 2024, will be able to continue to receive it until the expiry of the certificate.
The Ministry of Welfare has justified such changes by the lack of funds of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) material deprivation program. The changes foresee that from next year, only those with poor household status and those in crisis, including Ukrainians, will be included among the recipients of food parcel aid.
Low-income status is granted if the monthly income of the first or only person in the household does not exceed EUR 411, and for each subsequent person in the household – EUR 288. In turn, the income threshold for a poor household is EUR 343 for the first or only person in the household, and EUR 240 for other persons.
The ministry notes that expenditure on the purchase of food aid accounts for 87% of the total expenditure on the purchase of aid in the ESF+ program. Therefore, significant optimization of expenditures is possible only in the part of food expenditures. Other forms of support – hygiene, household, food, child care, and school supplies-have little financial impact, so these forms of support are not reviewed.
According to the data collected by the ministry, this year the number of all eligible persons was about 55 000 each month, reaching as many as about 60 000 people during the winter period. Trends suggest that this number will not change in the near future. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs predicts an increase in the number of first-time arrivals from Ukraine from 6 000 to 10 000. Some of them could also qualify for aid.