Benefits cannot bring prosperity, says Torosyan, explaining new vulnerability assessment system

Vulnerability benefits should provide temporary support until a family can get back on its feet, Minister of Labour and Welfare Arsen Torosyan said, explaining changes to the benefits system.

The minister addressed the issue during discussions on the draft 2027 state budget at a joint meeting of the National Assembly’s standing committees on Labour and Welfare and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs.

During the discussion, MP Andranik Gevorgyan raised the issue of families that had lost their benefits following pension increases. He said there were cases where a family’s composition, assets and other circumstances had not changed, but citizens had been told their benefits were being discontinued because their pensions had increased. Gevorgyan also raised concerns about local assessments and the provision of adequate explanations to citizens.

Torosyan said the previous family and social benefits system had been replaced by a vulnerability benefit system based on different principles.

According to the minister, assessments had previously relied primarily on family members’ status, including their age, disability and number of children, with points assigned accordingly. The new system assesses a family’s needs, taking account of income, assets and household composition.

He said the system had first been piloted in Syunik and Kotayk provinces to identify and resolve problems. Families are reassessed one year after their previous assessment, meaning the changes do not apply to all families simultaneously.

Responding to the observation that nothing had changed in a family’s circumstances, the minister stressed that the assessment system itself had changed.

Torosyan also explained how income was calculated, noting that pensions, wages, disability benefits and other income were taken into account. The assessment uses the cost of the food basket, which is due to be updated for the following year.

“We are preparing to update it now, using the food basket for the third quarter of this year, so that it can be applied next year. We are also raising the thresholds,” the minister said.

He said benefit amounts varied under the new system according to a family’s assessed needs.

“Benefits can range from AMD 5,000 to AMD 250,000,” Torosyan said.

The minister also stressed the importance of ensuring employment for people able to work, referring to public works, training and employment support programmes. He said social policy should help families escape poverty.

“Benefits cannot bring prosperity. A benefit should be temporary, until a family can get back on its feet. The previous system was about precisely the opposite: keeping people in poverty indefinitely so that they would always be waiting for something else,” Torosyan said.

Responding to concerns about problems arising locally, he explained that assessment data were obtained electronically from various authorities and service providers. The minister also expressed his readiness to examine individual cases and make changes if systemic problems were identified.