Kosovo's caretaker government has decided to allocate €100 each to children, pensioners, students and private sector workers. At today’s meeting, it also approved a decision to increase maternity benefits to €500 starting from May.
The package was presented by caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who said the one-time support for pensioners and children will be disbursed at the beginning of next week.
“One-time support of €100 for pensioners, one-time support of €100 for children, one-time support of €100 for non-public sector workers, one-time support of €100 for active students... We will aim to make the one-time payments to beneficiary families at the beginning of next week, before the Eid holiday, so that every family feels equal on that festive day, knowing that the caring hand of the state is looking after them. As for non-public sector employees and students, I have been informed by the Minister of Finance that an application procedure is required, which will open next week... We are aware that, due to the absence of a revised budget, which was blocked by the opposition bloc, this package does not address all needs, dear citizens, but it will somewhat ease the burden for every family in our country because, unlike the opposition bloc, we are a government that ensures the hand of the state reaches everyone. We are the only government that has proven it thinks about the concerns of every family,” he said.
“The super news I want to share with you today is that starting this month we will increase maternity benefits. Under previous governments, maternity benefits were zero euros, as if this state had no mothers on maternity leave. For the first time under our government, we introduced them by paying €170 per month, which was the minimum wage we found. Last May, we increased the monthly benefit from €170 to €325.90. This year, we increased the minimum wage again — from January 1 it became €425, and from July 1 it will become €500. Just as we did last year, this May we are increasing maternity benefits again, as promised, from €325 to €500 per month,” Kurti said.
Caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti also stated that, to demonstrate continued support for women, the government will soon launch the “Super Jobs for Women” program, through which women returning to the labor market will receive support by having their minimum wage paid for an additional six months.
