Options for Child Benefits in Kosovo : Synthesis of International Experiences and Considerations for Kosovo in Response to Parliament Resolution on Child Allowances
Kosovo is the second poorest country in Europe, after Moldova, with one in five Kosovars living in poverty. Improved economic conditions in the country have yet to translate into significant poverty reduction. The poor are over-represented in house...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Technical Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/394151568813204302/Technical-Note http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32434 |
| Summary: | Kosovo is the second poorest country in
Europe, after Moldova, with one in five Kosovars living in
poverty. Improved economic conditions in the country have
yet to translate into significant poverty reduction. The
poor are over-represented in households headed by women, in
households in which the head has not completed secondary
education, in households with more children, in larger
households, and among people whose main source of income is
social assistance, specifically category I social assistance
scheme beneficiaries. Child benefits are one of the most
common components of the family benefit systems in the
European countries, and worldwide. They are part of a
broader set of measures aimed at reducing poverty and
vulnerability of families with children. The Social
Assistance Scheme is Kosovo’s overarching program for
protection against poverty of various vulnerable groups.
Beneficiary families of the social assistance scheme receive
a child supplement for each child. On November 7, 2018, the
Parliament of the Kosovo adopted a resolution calling on the
government of Kosovo to draft legislation for a state budget
financed child benefit, considering criteria such as family
income, employment status of parents, and children’s age.
This note provides an overview of international experiences
with child benefits and uses data from the Kosovo household
budget survey to assess the impact of various options for
protecting children against poverty. To avoid duplicating
the existing child supplement, the targeting mechanism and
implementation rules for any new child benefit should, at
the very least, be coordinated with the targeting design and
implementation arrangements of the social assistance scheme. |
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