Georgia doubles aid for socially vulnerable children

From July 1, the monthly allowance for socially vulnerable children in Georgia will double – from 50 to 100 lari [from $ 15 to $ 30]. The system for assessing who should be included in the list of socially vulnerable will also change and, consequently, significantly increase the number of children eligible for assistance.

This decision will affect more than 215,000 children in Georgia.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that “the goal is to drastically reduce child poverty”. An additional 145 million lari will be allocated annually to finance the program from the budget.

• Children in Georgia. Facts and figures
• “I couldn’t prove the truth.” The story of a Georgian girl who committed suicide
• Early marriages in Georgia
• How coronavirus changed the lives of 6 women in Georgia’s Marneuli

Brief statistics on the problems faced by children and adolescents in Georgia

● More than 10,000 teenagers in Georgia have never gone to school.

● In 2020, the population of Georgia spent the least money on education.

● According to the National Statistical Office of Georgia, among the emigrants who left Georgia in 2015-2019, the largest number were women aged 25-29. Many left small children at home.

● 15% of school-age children in Georgia do not have access to the Internet. This is especially important in the context of the pandemic and remote learning.

● 50,400 children between the ages of 3 and 17 do not have a computer.

● In 2020, more than 20,000 families with children became poorer and were forced to apply for social benefits. If in January 2020 152,353 minors received it, and, by the end of 2020, 186,131 children became recipients of state aid.

● According to the UNICEF Population Welfare Survey of 2017, 6.8% of children in Georgia live in extreme poverty. Extreme poverty in Georgia starts at less than three lari a day (less than $ 1).