To ensure the targeted use of assets of the State Social Insurance Fund (hereinafter referred to as the - SSIF), the Ministry of labour and social protection of the population of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the - MLSPP RK) has introduced amendments to the existing regulatory legal act. These amendments relate to the procedures for calculating and assigning payments for pregnancy and childbirth, as well as childcare benefits until the child reaches the age of 1.5 years.

The order titled "On Amendments to the Order of the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 27, 2023, No. 248 'On Approval of the Rules for Calculating (Determining) Amounts, Assigning, Providing, Suspending, Recalculating, Resuming, Terminating, and Reviewing Decisions on the Assignment (or Refusal to Assign) Social Benefits due to Loss of Income Related to Pregnancy and Childbirth, Adoption of a Newborn Child (Children), and Social Benefit due to Loss of Income Related to Childcare until the Age of One and a Half Years'" was published electronically in the Reference Control Bank of Regulatory Legal Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on March 28 of this year.The order will come into effect 10 calendar days after its official publication.  

The changes include:

• Using an average monthly income not exceeding 7 times the minimum wage (MW) per month in the calculation of social benefits for pregnancy and childbirth, regardless of the number of employers making contributions;

•Excluding from the calculation of social benefits for pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare up to 1.5 years, social contributions made after the occurrence of the insured social risk.

These amendments have been developed to ensure the targeted use of the SSIF’s assets and to eliminate fraudulent schemes in the assignment of social benefits.

More details about the document can be found at https://zan.gov.kz/client/#!/search/results/rn=208283.

As previously reported, during an extended meeting of the MLSPP's сollegium on February 27 of this year, Minister Svetlana Zhakupova stated that in 2024, SSIF payments were made to 1.4 million citizens totaling 958 billion tenge. In 15 regions, the volume of payments to participants exceeded the social contributions received for working citizens to SSIF.

“Only one social benefit currently has no maximum cap — the maternity benefit. This has led some individuals to exploit loopholes to receive artificially inflated payments, which results in unfair redistribution of contributions made by honest participants in the system,” said the Minister.

Since September 2024, more than 2,000 recipients voluntarily acknowledged the artificial inflation of income, helping to preserve 4.7 billion tenge in SSIF assets.

Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Kazakhstan (MLSPP RK) https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/enbek/press/news/details/964862?lang=ru