Welfare

In 2019, a record year for tourism, 152,787 people received seasonal unemployment benefits. Last year, the number increased to 172,485 people.

The scheduled increase in pensions from July 1 might be adjusted to 10% instead of the initially projected 11%, in line with the State Social Security budget for the current year. This potential alteration stems from the officially reported lower inflation rates compared to earlier forecasted estimates.

The government is expected to present its revised benefits policy in the summer.

With no budgetary room to increase the sum offered, it is eyeing the optimum targeting of social groups where the biggest problem is found: Single-parent families, single-person households, as well as under-18s.

In a recent decision made during an extraordinary budget and finance committee meeting, deputies opted to grant a BGN 100 supplement for Easter solely to pensioners whose pensions fall below the poverty line. This means that those receiving pensions above this threshold will not be eligible for the holiday supplement.

Social protection expenditure rose by 60.2 percent to reach 1.29 trillion Turkish Liras in 2022 compared to the previous year, marking a substantial increase, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

Social protection aids constituted the majority of the expenditure, totaling 1.26 trillion liras, representing 98 percent of the total expenditure.

The benefits were found to persist, at least partially, for up to four months after treatment

A total of 89,328,030 euros will be disbursed to 80,380 beneficiaries from March 11 to 15 as part of the scheduled payments of Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (e-ΕFΚΑ) and the Public Employment Service (DYPA).

Athens' prosecutors office has ordered an investigation into the founder of one of the country's best-known soup kitchens on charges that he embezzled and misused at least 600,000 euros in donations.

Bulgaria holds the distinction of having the shortest average pension duration among European Union nations. Across EU member states, retirement pensions typically last between 15 to 25 years. However, in Bulgaria, men receive pensions for an average of 14 years, while women receive them for nearly 19 years.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday presented the paradox of the Greek social security system, and generally the distorted way of the country's development in the last few decades, in its report on pensions (Pensions at a Glance 2023).