site.btaSurvey Finds Insignificant Share of Welfare Fraud in Bulgaria

Sofia, June 25 (BTA) - The share of fraudulently claimed invalidity pensions in Bulgaria ranges by the type of allowance and the period of entitlement from 0.04 to 1.18 per cent, while political rhetoric has led the public to believe that abuse is endemic, according to a survey conducted by expert Vanya Grigorova with the support of two NGOs: Collective for Social Interventions and Solidarna Bulgaria.

The survey, which was presented at a BTA-hosted news conference on Monday, analyzes Bulgaria's welfare system and is based on a non-representative poll of 200 respondents with secondary and higher education.

Bulgaria's welfare and social-insurance system enjoys extremely low trust: more than 86 per cent of those polled believe that the welfare system is unfair because it is prone to abuse and because welfare allowances are paltry, Grigorova said.

According to figures released by the National Social Security Institute (NSSI), 500,000 people in this country receive invalidity pensions. At 7.3 per cent of the total population, the proportion of permanently disabled people in Bulgaria is half of the world proportion, Grigorova commented.

Disability predominantly affects people in the 55-69 age group. Disabled children number 26,000.

The National Statistical Institute sets the number of poor Roma at 251,000, which is the largest proportion in an ethnic group (77.2 per cent). On the other hand, 890,000 ethnic Bulgarians are also poor.

The expert specified that, according to the latest census, merely 4.3 per cent of all Bulgarian families have three and more children, and unemployed women with five and more children account for just 0.1 per cent of all Bulgarian women, and moreover the children of part of them are adult.

Welfare allocations are decreasing by the year even though the number of people living in dire straits is not diminishing and ranks Bulgaria among the top in the EU, Grigorova said. She specified that the expenditures of the Agency for Social Assistance approximates 840 million leva, whereas the money needed to provide personal care to mothers with disabled children at a monthly minimum wage of 510 leva is as much as the Agency's entire budget.

Union of War Disabled and War Victims in Bulgaria Chairman Peter Velchev told the news conference that 8,700,000 leva are allocated for war-disabled and war-victims pensions at present. He described the amount as "ridiculous", specifying that by December 31, 2017 the monthly pension amounted to 139.13 leva for 50-70 per cent loss of working capacity, 169.37 leva for 70-90 per cent loss, and 181.47 leva for over 90 per cent loss of working capacity. Part of the beneficiaries also receive a 120 leva supplement for long-term care.

The NSSI puts the number of war disabled and war victims at 5,012 by the end of last year.