Methodology - Social benefits

Data from the field of Social Security are taken from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. 

The sickness insurance scheme is intended for people in remunerative work, for whom it provides security through financial sickness insurance benefits in cases of the so-called short-term social events (temporary incapacity for work due to a disease, an injury, or quarantine, caring for a family member, pregnancy and maternity, or caring for a child). Sickness insurance is compulsory for employees (including members of the armed forces and security forces), whereas for the self-employed participation in the sickness insurance system remains voluntary.The sickness insurance scheme consisted of six benefits in 2022 as follows: sickness benefit, attendance allowance, maternity benefit, pregnancy and maternity compensation benefit, paternity benefit, and long-term attendance allowance. 

The system of state social support secures targeted assistance to families with dependent children in defined social situations solution of which is beyond own forces and resources of the family. State social support benefits include child allowance, parental allowance, housing allowance, birth grant, and funeral grant. In 2022, this group of benefits also includes a one-off child allowance in the amount of CZK 5 000 per child. 

A child is provided with foster care by a registered person who performs foster care for a temporary period or by a caring person (a foster parent or a guardian in particular). There were the following types of foster care benefits in 2022: foster child allowance, foster parent allowance, foster care allowance, care leaver’s grant/allowance (a maintenance allowance for young adults leaving foster care), fostering grant (a grant at the beginning of foster care), and motor vehicle grant. 

The system of assistance in material need is a form of assistance to persons having insufficient income that shall motivate the persons to make active efforts to acquire resources to satisfy their basic needs of life and to prevent them from social exclusion. The system of assistance in material need includes allowance for living, supplementary housing allowance (sometimes called “supplement for housing”), and extraordinary immediate assistance. A humanitarian benefit provided to citizens of Ukraine who were granted temporary protection was also included in this system of benefits in 2022. 

Benefits for people with disabilities include mobility allowance and grant for special aid since 2012. 

The entitled person for care benefit is a person who, due to long-term bad health, needs assistance of another natural person while taking care of themselves and providing for self-sufficiency within the extent as defined by law. The persons may, on the basis of their own free will, reimburse professional social services or use the benefit to cover essential expenses for providing care within their family.  

Such a job seeking person (job applicant) is entitled to get an unemployment benefit who complied with prerequisites as defined by the Act on Employment.  

An advance of maintenance payment is a benefit that is to financially support for a temporary period of time a dependent child in a situation when its parent shall pay maintenance as decided by court, yet he/she does not fulfil his/her maintenance obligation. The benefit was introduced on 1 July 2021.