The bill on multiple families will be revised

Yesterday in the Standing Committee on Health and Social Issues of the RA National Assembly discussed the package of draft laws “On Multiple Families” submitted by the Government and the attached laws. As a result of the discussion it was decided to review the draft, taking into account the recommendations of the commission.

According to official statistics, there are about 7400 multiple families in Armenia. Most of them are poor and live in the regions. In Yerevan, with a population of one million, there are almost 1200 large families, in Aragatsotn, where about 130 thousand people live, the number of families with large families reaches 565. Moreover, during the last 15-16 years, the number of large families has dropped by 4-4.5 times.

And how do such families live? The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs recently tried to find out about it in 2014. The survey found that salaries in these families accounted for 2%, while government grants made up 80%. 89% of mothers in such families and 69% of fathers are unemployed or work overseas. Almost 70% of the large families live in overcrowded or densely populated shelters, that is, the overall residential areas of the studied families do not only meet the general norms of the residential area (9 sq.m), but also the minimum sanitary norms.

Keynote speaker, Health and Social Affairs Minister Artem Asatryan mentioned that the project regulates the relations, status and support to multiple families in Armenia, the purpose, types and sources of funding provided to many families in Armenia. Particularly, the government defines a concept of a large family, according to which a family caring for four or more children is considered to be a multiple.

The Minister noted that the main types of support provided are social assistance, medical care and service, state-sponsored state support, long-term loan repayment for subsidies, subsidies, self-employment, and children’s educational support. In particular, children from large families (four or more children) will now be able to benefit from up to 50% discount in kindergartens, technical schools and universities. Children from these families and their parents are covered by state healthcare programs (vaccinations, diagnostics, or government-controlled surgeries) for free or at reduced prices.

Summing up the statement, Chairman of the Committee Hakob Hakobyan noted that it is not possible to provide different families with different care depending on the calendar year, so the norms and principles should be fixed in the law.

He made the following suggestions: To release members of large families from income tax, to calculate the maternity pensions in a different way (rather than with the experience), to exempt tax-paying families from large families and to provide them with uninterrupted mortgage loans.

The Commission has decided to revise the bill, discussing the proposals with the government and within the framework of the hearings, after which it will finalize and present a new vote.

Full text in Armenian