State Social Assistance Allowance, as a new social policy measure aimed at reducing the thread of poverty and promoting social inclusion, is regulated by Act No. 151/2025 Coll., on the State Social Assistance Allowance. The act has come into effect on October 1, 2025.
The introduction of the State Social Assistance Allowance represents a new approach to low-threshold social protection, which consists of, on the one hand, providing individuals and households with social assistance if they are at risk of poverty, and, on the other hand, motivating them to actively solve their unfavourable income situation and to break free from dependence on benefit support.
Substantive change in the social benefit system consists of merging/replacing several existing benefits of State Social Support (Child Allowance and Housing Allowance) and of Assistance in Material Need (Living Allowance and Housing Supplement) into one comprehensive State Social Assistance Allowance, that includes 4 components: component for living, component for housing, work bonus, child bonus. This new allowance thus helps individuals and households in the basic areas of life, which are raising a dependent child, family livelihood and housing costs, and at the same time it should stimulate/subsidize the work activity of household members.
Component for Housing reflects how much the household pays for rent and energy and what part of the income it represents. The claim is when the housing costs in an apartment or non-residential space (= accommodation facility, residential social services, recreational building, etc.), to which a household member has a legal title and lives there permanently, exceed a specified part of income (in base 30%) and this part of the income is not higher than the decisive housing costs, determined according to the type of housing, number of persons, size of the municipality.
Component for Living serves to cover basic living needs and is intended only to households that are really very poor, i.e. a household with an income up to 1.43 times the household living minimum. Basic social counselling helps to improve the recipient´s situation together with the payment of the allowance, and a so-called support plan (i.e. individual activation plan offering measures to improve living conditions, find suitable work, ensure adequate housing or care for dependents, promote healthy lifestyle, enable debt relief, increase social skills, etc) is established no later than three months from the date of application. The amount of the component for living is equal to the difference between the household income after deducting 30 % for housing and the amount for the members' living needs. The amount for living needs is based on the subsistence minimum, for children on the living minimum, and is increased for fulfilling the support plan, for dietary food, for performing public service.
Child Bonus designated for the payment of costs associated with children belongs to families with children with an income up to 4 times the household living minimum, on the condition that every non-vulnerable person in the household is active at work and no administrative penalty is imposed for non-fulfilment of pre- and school attendance. Its amount depends on income: up to 1.43 times the living minimum, it is CZK 500 per child, up to three times the living minimum, it is CZK 1,000, above this limit the calculation is based on linear regression. In a household with only vulnerable persons, the amount is CZK 1,000. The Government may adjust the amounts depending on price increases.
Work Bonus related to the work activity belongs on the condition that at least one of the household members will have income from employment or self-employment or from some work-related social benefits (sickness insurance benefit, parental allowance following maternity benefit, foster parent´s allowance). For households with incomes up to 1.6 times the living minimum, the component amount is 40 % of their earnings, with higher incomes, this amount is gradually reduced.
Entitlement to State Social Assistance Allowance, and the calculation of its amount reflect the specific situation of the applicant and apply as a criterion the subsistence and living minimum (and its multiples). The minimum´s amounts are set by law; the Government may adjust the amounts depending on price increases.
The Labour Office of the Czech Republic decides on claims and pays the State Social Assistance Allowance. Applications are submitted online via the Jenda Client Zone or in person, at the Labour Office, through assisted filing with an official.
The appellate body is the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Entitlement to State Social Assistance Allowance is subject to income, assets, and work activity testing. The entry requirement for eligibility for all clients is a means/property/asset test. Recipients are allowed to own one car per adult member and two residential properties per household, i.e. a house or apartment, in one of which they must live and the second for limited period of 3 years only. The value of real estates and cars is not evaluated. The restriction also applies to monetary funds: savings up to CZK 200,000 for individuals, plus CZK 50,000 for each additional person, maximum CZK 400,000 per household. However, state-backed financial products, pension or building savings funds or transfers from charity collections are not counted.
The level and forms of assistance are differentiated according to the depth of income poverty. People with an income up to and above 1.43 times the living minimum are treated differently. While income below 1.43 means having regular contact with the Labour Office and documenting fulfilment of the conditions of the claim, income above 1.43 means automated processing mode - a digitalized way of applying for the claim and its proof, or a flat-rate payment of the Component for Housing.
A distinction is also made according to status of claimant - between vulnerable people and those with work obligations. This is reflected in a different approach to solving an adverse situation and a different level of compensation. Vulnerable people who due to age, health, care cannot be actively employed are given higher protection.
- Vulnerable persons (= dependent children, persons over 68 years of age, old-age pensioners, persons with third-degree of disability, recipients of sickness benefit due to pregnancy and maternity, parents caring for a child under 4 years old, single parents caring for a child under 7 years old, certain caregivers of persons dependent on assistance, beneficiaries of care allowance in levels II to IV, survivors within 1 year of the partner´s death).
- Persons with an obligation to have a work activity (= employment contract or similar work relationship at least 30 hours per month, self-employment, registration as job applicants at the PES and participation in employment programs, recognition of temporary incapacity for work and compliance with the regime, foster care work).
Notice: This information has been simplified and is only intended as a rough guide. The full conditions for the granting of the allowance are set out in the legislation or will be explained to you, based on a more detailed knowledge of your own situation, by staff from the Labour Office responsible for making decisions on this allowance.
Contacts:
Labour Office of the Czech Republic
General Directorate
Dobrovského 25, 170 00 Praha 7
Tel: +420 950 180 111
up.gov.cz, e-mail: podatelna.gr@up.gov.cz
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
Na Poříčním právu 1, 128 01 Praha 2
Tel.: +420 950 191 111
mpsv.gov.cz, e-mail: posta@mpsv.gov.cz