Social welfare

Social welfare covers services and cash benefits for groups and individuals who do not have sufficient means of subsistence. The main aim is to ensure dignity and equal opportunities and to prevent social exclusion. The state provides material and social rights and the individual contributes in the form of taxes and other compulsory duties.¹²

Social welfare rights include financial or other aid provided by the government to the people in need (e.g. unemployment, accidents on the job, sickness, invalidity, pension, family insurance services, maternity).

Regarding access to social welfare, people with granted international protection have equal rights as Slovene citizens. Some welfare benefits are connected to the employment, nationality (Slovene, EU or Non-EU citizen) and the status of resident.

Asylum seekers do not have access to regular social welfare benefits and social security.
For obtaining different welfare benefits, different conditions apply. This conditions change frequently, so it is recommended to contact the Centre for Social Work or other competent service for more information.

People who do not have any income or where the income is lower than the minimum income defined every year by the government, can apply for financial social assistance. This is financial aid (help in money) for those who due to circumstances out of their control are unable to provide means of subsistence for themselves and their family members.

For receiving financial social assistance, a person has to meet some conditions. One must be actively seeking solutions to the problem. If one is able to work, one must be registered with the Employment Service of Slovenia, participate in their programmes of active employment policy and actively seek employment. The amount of financial social assistance depends on several factors (previous income if any, number of family members, whether the person has any property or savings etc.).

Application for financial social assistance is done at the Centre for Social Work. In order to prove eligibility, one has to show the financial situation by providing bank statements and other documents (statements of assets etc.) for every person living in the household. If the person eligible for financial social assistance has no income, they receive the full stated amount; otherwise, they are entitled to the difference between their own income and the stated amount.

As a recipient of the financial social assistance, one automatically benefits from the compulsory health care insurance and one can also apply for the supplementary health care insurance.

Financial social assistance can be granted for different periods – from one month to one year, or even permanently under certain conditions. Exceptional financial social assistance can be granted in exceptional circumstances. If one gets this money, one must prove that it was used for the purpose for which it was granted (e.g. paying the bills) to the Centre for Social Work within 45 days of the receipt of the cash assistance.

Income support is intended to cover long-term living expenses (accommodation expenses etc.). It is meat for the permanently unemployable or permanently unable to work, for women over 63 or men over 65 whose income does not exceed the threshold.

Bereavement and funeral payment is provided for a family member of the deceased person arranging a funeral or requiring financial assistance following death of a family member.

There are many types of social services that are available to assist individuals, families and groups in coping with personal distress, as well as to provide care, protection, education and training.³

Social services are provided to prevent and/or alleviate social distress and difficulties and include activities and support for self-help. Those services include:

• counselling to individuals
• helping the family
• institutional care (to substitute or complement the functions of home and own family for an adult or child needing attendance)
• organized care for adults with physical or mental handicap (including guidance and employment under special conditions)
• helping workers, institutions and other employers in solving work-related problems

Public institutes of social care directly carry out these services. Everyone has a right to those services, but different conditions apply for different services. Application is done at the Centre for Social Work that operates in the area of one’s permanent residence.

If the person has been granted protection in Slovenia and has his/her family here too, the family members also have the right to welfare benefits called family allowances. These allowances are:

• Child benefits: One can receive child benefits monthly from the birth of the child until he/she turns 18. The child must have residence in Slovenia and the income per family member must not exceed 64% of the average net wage in Slovenia. The number of children in the family and their age determines the amount of the benefit.
• Parental allowance: a monthly allowance for parents who are not entitled to parental care compensation (income that employed parents receive during the parental leave); also some other conditions apply.
• Childbirth allowance : one time financial help for the purchase of clothing and other necessities at the birth of a child.
• Large family allowance: an annual payment for families with three or more children.
• Child care allowance: a monthly payment for a child requiring special care.
• Partial payment for loss of earnings: a monthly payment for parents or guardians/foster parents caring for a child with a serious mental developmental disorder or serious physical impairment.

There are different forms of disability. Some people are physically disabled. For example, they are blind, deaf or unable to walk and need a wheelchair. Other people are mentally disabled. Disabilities can be congenital or they may be the result of an accident or a disease.

People with disabilities have several support mechanisms at their disposal so they can participate in the society equally, for example, they are more protected against being dismissed from their job and can receive occupational subsidies. More information is available at associations for persons with disabilities, and also at the integration counsellor.

Persons classed as disabled are entitled to different rights to disability insurance. The ZPIZ disability commission assesses disability. Depending on how much work-capacity they have, disabled persons are classified in three categories, which have different rights:

• disability pension;
• vocational rehabilitation;
• disability allowance;
• partial benefit;
• disability benefit for physical impairment.

When a person is granted international protection, i.e. when Slovenia recognizes that that person escaped persecution or war and is therefore entitled to asylum, and if he does not have sufficient resources, he is entitled to social assistance, which amounts to about 297 Euros.

Unfortunately, the refugees receives this support only get a month or so after applying, so that those people who do not have their own resources are forced to live without aid for the first month and are completely dependent on humanitarian organizations or friendly food-donating individuals.

In addition to social assistance, refugees – if they do not have their own resources – are entitled in the first three years to financial assistance for private accommodation, amounting to 297 Euros per person. For each subsequent household person, this amount is reduced. Refugees also do not have access to non-profit housing.⁴