As of the end of 2024, targeted social assistance (TSA) was granted to 413.7 thousand people from 78.1 thousand families. A budget of 39.5 billion tenge was allocated for this purpose.
“It must be acknowledged that the support measures are currently offered without considering the actual income of citizens. Often, families that do not need such assistance at all, including wealthy families, receive it. Taking this aspect into account, it is necessary to improve the tools for supporting the population,” said Mukash Eskendiv.
Many families fake their separation or hide their income to maintain their benefits.
In practice, targeted social assistance (TSA) is often becoming “a factor that hinders development and labor activity.”
“The TSA system creates a paradoxical situation: instead of temporary support, it turns into a means of survival. Many families fake their separation or hide their income to keep the benefits. Wealth monitoring is conducted based on formal criteria: not only actual income is taken into account, but also ownership of livestock, as the calculation methodology considers even a single chicken or cow. As a result, families are forced to choose between developing small-scale farming or risking losing their assistance. The existing TSA system does not solve the problem of poverty; it only strengthens dependence on the state,” he emphasized.
Mukash Eskendiv believes that there is a need for a radical reassessment of how TSA is provided.
“The TSA aimed at assisting low-income families actually fails to lead them toward self-sufficiency and hinders business development,” the survey indicated.
Deputy:
1. Transition from support to social adaptation and the implementation of vocational education, training, retraining, and employment assistance programs for the long-term independence of beneficiaries;
2. Expanding the assessment criteria for TSA allocation to include not only official income but also the actual living standards of families, considering regional specifics and current socio-economic conditions;
3. Strengthening control over the targeted use of assistance to prevent illegal use of funds and ensuring their targeted distribution, as well as implementing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for the effectiveness of the support provided;
4. Reforming the TSA system and transitioning to more targeted benefits aimed at addressing actual needs (for example, for education, healthcare, housing expenses), which allows for a departure from the model that only maintains poverty status;
5. Revising the period for confirming the right to TSA and changing the rules for assigning and paying benefits by establishing annual confirmation of the right to assistance instead of the current three-month period, which will reduce the administrative burden on families and government agencies.
The issue of poverty remains as Achilles’ heel for our government’s economic block.
There is a prevailing view that ministers responsible for managing the social block are accountable for the unresolved issues. Since last year, the topic of poverty has become a trend, with global organizations beginning to tally the number of people living in poverty in individual countries. In the first quarter of this year, the World Bank reported that poverty in Kazakhstan has increased nearly threefold.
5.1% of the population is poor...
The causes and consequences of the deeply rooted poverty level in the country remain a topic that has yet to be studied by experts. According to the World Bank’s research, 14.6% of Kazakhs live in poverty, which translates to 2.9 million people, significantly higher than the internal statistics showing 5.1%.
Conclusion from the numbers
In 2024, the minimum wage is set at 85,000 tenge, the minimum pension at 57,853 tenge, the minimum living wage at 43,407 tenge, and the average wage at 402,251 tenge. These figures are close to the Ministry's forecasts for this year. However, it remains unclear what actual results these numbers will yield. The inflation rate and government plans may not align: according to the National Statistical Bureau, over the past year, the cost of services has risen by 13.6%, non-food goods by 7.6%, and food products by 5.1%. There are frequent mentions that international norms are not adequately considered when determining the poverty level. Currently, the poverty level in the country is equal to 70% of the minimum living wage, which is 30,385 tenge. This is significantly lower than the benchmarks established by international organizations. For instance, the World Bank considers individuals with a monthly income of $205.5 (approximately 100,000 tenge) to be below the poverty line, while the UN includes those earning less than $150 a month (about 73,000 tenge) in this list. The indicated level in Kazakhstan—30,385 tenge—does not even reach half of these figures.