Unemployed women living in rural areas will also receive childcare benefits for up to 2 years old children

The amount of childcare allowance for up to 2-year-old  child will increase to 26,500 AMD  instead of 18,000 AMD. The decision on this was made at the sitting of the RA Government.

According to the Law on Amendments to the Law on State Benefits, submitted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, not only will the amount of childcare allowance for children under 2 years of age be doubled, but also unemployed women registered  in rural areas for at least one year will receive the right to benefit.

Thus, the amount of benefits for citizens living in urban areas and receiving childcare benefits for children under 2 years of age will be 26,500 AMD. The amount of benefits for non-working citizens living in rural areas will be the same for the care of a child born after July 1^st. The amount of care allowance for citizens living in rural areas, working and having children under 2 years of age will be 53,000 AMD.

This regulation will come into force on July 1, 2020 and will apply to all citizens who are beneficiaries at that time.

It should be noted that the citizen acquires the right to care benefits, in case she was registered with the child at the address of the rural settlement in the state register of the population of the Republic of Armenia and actually lived for at least one year in a row before the child turns two years old.

In other words, if one year of registration of the parent at the address of the rural settlement expires before the child’s birthday, the benefit will be determined from the 1st of the month following the month of the child’s 70th day (assuming that working and unemployed mothers are given maternity benefit for 70 days before birth and 70 days after birth).

If one year turns after the birthday of the child, the parent acquires the right to a care benefit from the 1st of the month following the month in which the child is registered at the address of the rural settlement.

In addition, the extension of the application for care benefits has been extended to 12 months instead of six months, and the benefit amount will be paid not for 6 months, but for  12.

According to the changes, the unpaid amount of the care benefit will be paid for the entire period, instead of the current 6 months.

The demand of the parent to be in the Republic of Armenia to assign the benefit was also eliminated. This means that if the parent is absent from the country, the right to receive benefits or benefits will not be stopped.

The process of one-time childbirth allowance has also been simplified. In case of state registration of the birth of a child in a foreign state, a certificate of non-assignment of benefits in that state will no longer be required to assign benefits to a parent who is a citizen of the Republic of Armenia.

If the parent has not applied for the allowance within 12 months after the one-time childbirth benefit has been granted and it has been returned to the state budget, the benefit will be available for re-application within the next three years.