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The news portal remembers the most important changes proposed and is interested in how economists see them.
Subsidy for people over 60 years old.
According to the draft amendments to the Employment Law proposed by the Ministry of Social Security and Labor, employers will be able to release workers aged 60 or over during quarantine and receive a special subsidy for this. It must also be paid after quarantine.
The employer may choose which subsidy to request: a) 100%. of the employee’s calculated salary, but not more than 607 euros (before taxes) or b) 70%, but not more than 910.5 euros gross (before taxes).
After the end of quarantine or the employee’s return from downtime, the employer may continue to apply for 6 months. subsidies for the same employee during the first two months: 100% for the first two months, 50% for the third and fourth months, 30% for the fifth and sixth months.
We remind you that for all other employees, the usual wage subsidy is 70%. or 90 percent. salary.
All wage subsidies, benefits for independent workers, job search subsidy, etc. Almost 792 million are planned to be spent. euros
Single benefit per child
As you know, at this time, a child receives € 60 a month for a child, regardless of the family’s financial situation.
An additional benefit of € 40 is paid to children whose families live in deprivation (income per person is less than € 183 per month) or who have three or more children.
President Gitanas Nausėda submitted to Seimas a bill on the single payment scheme for children to reduce the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (coronavirus infection).
According to him, children who now receive 60 euros would receive an additional 120 euros.
For those who receive 40 euros, an additional 80 euros will be paid for each child.
It is estimated that approximately € 72 million will be needed to pay lump sums. euros
Sick benefits for a dependent child
The amendments to the Social Security for Sickness and Maternity Act prepared by the Ministry of Social Security and Labor suggest that sickness benefits should not be linked to preschool or preschool education programs, as the Ministry states that, “Jardines de unregistered childhood “, etc.).
Children who have been identified in current law as educated under a preschool or preschool program will be named as children under the age of 8.
As before, the provision remains that sickness benefit is also paid for primary and disabled children until the end of the educational process.
Therefore, parents with children age 8 and older who do not become ill at the end of the school year will no longer receive sickness benefits, even if the amendments to the law have not yet taken effect. The school year for beginners this year ends on June 5.
You see the pros and cons
Vilnius University professor Teodoras Medaiskis said he had not been able to drill down into all the details of the latest amendments to the law, but in his opinion any proposed measure to help people due to the coronavirus pandemic must comply with the general approach.
“It just came to our attention then. They should be released to those who have really suffered as a result of the quarantine pandemic, and not just to distribute the money to those who relapsed.
This is a general provision. And the comment would be this: the extent to which the measures proposed by the amendments to the law comply with this provision, the extent to which they are good and the extent to which they are not, are bad, “said T. Medaiskis.
Sigismund Mauric, chief economist at Luminor, said the countries’ current goal is to inject as much money as possible into the economy to “cushion” the negative impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The most effective ways are liquidity support for companies and compensation for downtime. Their goal is for companies to survive this temporary shock and get back on track when the pandemic ends.
As the use of liquidity support in Lithuania is quite low, no money has been injected into the economy as expected. As a result, other options are tax cuts or benefit increases. So there is an attempt to “shoot” with such means, “considered the interlocutor.
According to him, one could find arguments for a subsidy for the sixties. Without them, employers may be less likely to protect such workers.
“But, in principle, any disaggregation by age introduces more confusion than clarity. In a sense, it can even fragment society. After all, there may be cases where one person is, for example, 59 years, 11 months and 20 days, and another is already 60 years and 5 days.
I am very cartoon here, but in that case the difference would be great. One will not receive anything yet and the other will receive a higher subsidy. If it’s a universal benefit, it should be as universal as possible, ”Ž said. Mauricas
According to him, in this regard, children’s money is a better idea because it is not discriminatory and its payment mechanism works.
“It is just a question of whether that additional lump sum will continue to be relevant.” The epidemic is gradually ending, economic indicators in Lithuania are improving and the question of whether it would not be more appropriate to make more sustainable decisions to reduce the number of poor families, improve the financial situation of families, as well as through infrastructure, education, etc. If we talk about long-term economic stimulus, a “launch” of single money is meaningless.
When it comes to “fighting fires,” it makes sense to inject money into the economy. Alone or not late with such decisions. This is costly for the budget and it may be more appropriate to move to more sustainable incentives. For example, raising a child’s money in general, promising to increase, or promising not to decrease at least. I think psychologically it would be important: a person would feel more secure “, Ž. Mauricas
Make sure no additional injections are needed
Tadas Povilauskas, an economist at SEB Bank, says he broadly supports the proposal to pay higher subsidies for the wages of employees 60 and older.
“It is possible to discuss whether this should be done for 6 or 3 months. But there is a strong reluctance for older people of pre-retirement age to leave the labor market and not return to it later. We have many of those employees in Lithuania, they are very necessary and they will continue to be necessary.
I think that as a motivational tool it is very good. One only has to estimate how much money it would cost the state budget. But, I think that this burden would not be high, because here we are talking only about those employees who are fired, “said the interlocutor.
According to him, if a person agrees to work on his own and the employer gives a job, then the employer is convinced that the person is working and that the person is good. Therefore, the logic here is “connected”.
However, according to T. Povilauskas, the unique additional benefits for children should be criticized:
“It is already, as they say, from that series where we borrow money and look for where to spend that money.” The extra money in a lump sum reaches all families, both those who need it and those who do not. Speed is more questionable. “
The only advantage would be that these benefits are unique and at least in part promote human consumption.
“What I would really be opposed to is a reduction in the personal income tax rate for half a year, which would probably happen next year.” As the measure is unique, it is not very bad in this regard. Also, the burden on the budget will not be very high. It is only important that there is no additional benefit in September and another in December.
Let’s look at the situation as the economy progresses. And so far it is moving better than we fear and more injections of this type may not be needed at the end of the year or at the beginning of others, ”expected T. Povilauskas.
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