Options for Child Benefits in Kosovo : Synthesis of International Experiences andConsiderations for Kosovo in Response to Parliament Resolution on Child Allowances
Kosovo is the second poorest country inEurope, after Moldova, with one in five Kosovars living inpoverty. Improved economic conditions in the country haveyet to translate into significant poverty reduction. Thepoor are over-represented in households headed by women, inhouseholds in which the head has not completed secondaryeducation, in households with more children, in largerhouseholds, and among people whose main source of income issocial assistance, specifically category I social assistancescheme beneficiaries. Child benefits are one of the mostcommon components of the family benefit systems in theEuropean countries, and worldwide. They are part of abroader set of measures aimed at reducing poverty andvulnerability of families with children. The SocialAssistance Scheme is Kosovo’s overarching program forprotection against poverty of various vulnerable groups.Beneficiary families of the social assistance scheme receivea child supplement for each child. On November 7, 2018, theParliament of the Kosovo adopted a resolution calling on thegovernment of Kosovo to draft legislation for a state budgetfinanced child benefit, considering criteria such as familyincome, employment status of parents, and children’s age.This note provides an overview of international experienceswith child benefits and uses data from the Kosovo householdbudget survey to assess the impact of various options forprotecting children against poverty. To avoid duplicatingthe existing child supplement, the targeting mechanism andimplementation rules for any new child benefit should, atthe very least, be coordinated with the targeting design andimplementation arrangements of the social assistance scheme.
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