UAE President restructures social welfare programme for low-income citizens

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has restructured the social welfare programme for low-income citizens, doubling the budget from Dhs14bn to Dhs28bn.

The programme covers financial support for housing and other basic needs such as food, water, electricity and fuel.

This is in addition to temporary financial support for the unemployed job seeker, unemployed citizens, head of family allowance, wife allowance and children allowance.

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Introducing new allowances
The new programme includes a housing allowance between Dhs1,500 to Dhs2,500 per month until the family obtains government housing. Applicants who live with their parents or family are entitled to 60 per cent of this amount. It does not apply to those who obtain government housing subsidy or who own a house registered in their names.

An allowance of Dhs3,200 per month will be allocated to outstanding high school students enrolled in university and diploma programmes, up to the age of 25.

The allowance to unemployed citizens will grant a fixed subsidy starting from Dhs2000 to Dhs5000 per month according to the age.

The allowance for unemployed job seekers amounts to Dhs5000 per month for six months regardless of their age.

Increasing existing allowances
The Head of the Family allowance increases according to years of experience. This will start from Dhs5,000 per month and then increase at a rate of Dhs2,000 per month for every 10 years of work experience until it reaches Dhs13,000.

The wife’s allowance will be raised to Dhs3,500, with the aim of raising the social support that low-income national families receive.

The children allowance will be increased to Dhs2,400 per month for the first child, Dhs1,600 per month for the second and third child, and Dhs800 for the fourth child or more. This will be given up to the age of 21 years.

Inflation allowance
As part of the Food supplement allowance, the government bears 75 per cent of food price inflation.

It will provide a monthly subsidy of 50 per cent for electricity consumption less than 4,000 kilowatts, and monthly subsidy for water at a value of 50 per cent for water consumption less than 26,000 gallons.

The programme also provides a monthly fuel subsidy of 85 per cent of the fuel price increase over Dhs2.1 per litre. The head of the family receives a monthly subsidy of 300 litres, while the working wife receives additional 200 litres. The head of the family receives a subsidy of 400 litres if the wife does not receive support.