On June 29, the meeting of the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan, M. Abylkasymova, was held in front of the population

Opening the meeting, the head of the department noted that the work of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population is based on three main directions:

• modernization of the social security system and protection of the population;

• Promoting productive employment, increasing the incomes of the population and ensuring labor mobility;

• Protection of labor rights of citizens and regulation of labor relations.

In her report, the Minister noted that in 2017 comprehensive support was provided to all socially unprotected layers of the population.

"In general, for the reporting period, the unemployment rate was 4.9%, which is the lowest value for the years of independence. Measures of social support for the population covered more than 3.5 million people. In 2017, the pensions of Kazakhstanis were increased twice, measures to support maternity and childhood were expanded, new standards for the provision of special social services for victims of domestic violence were introduced, changes were introduced in the system of ensuring rights and improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities, "M.Abylkasimova said.

Much work has been done to ensure a barrier-free environment. The share of socially significant facilities accessible to persons with disabilities reached 91%, including more than 5 thousand objects.

The Minister noted the Program of Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship as an important tool to promote productive employment and increase incomes of the population.

At the end of the year, 576,000 citizens were covered by employment measures and 450,000 people were employed.

Speaking about the development of mass entrepreneurship, the head of the department noted the new format of microcrediting and the possibility of teaching the basics of entrepreneurship under the Bastau-Business project, implemented jointly with the Atameken NPP. In total, last year 15 thousand people were trained in entrepreneurship. In addition, 7.2 thousand people received microcredits, of which more than 4 thousand are directed to start-up projects.

By the way, within the framework of the Fourth Initiative of the Head of State to expand the microcredit program, the volume of financing in 2018 is increased by KZT 20 billion and is KZT 62.4 billion. Thus, 14 thousand people wishing to open a business or develop an existing one will be covered by microcrediting.

A popular measure of the Employment Development Program is youth practice, which allows them to gain initial experience and find a job. So, in 2017, 26,000 young people passed youth practice, after completion of which 12,000 people were employed for permanent work.

To promote labor mobility, the population was relocated from the labor surplus to the work-poor northern regions, their number was 1,565 families, which is 8 times more than in 2016. The settlers received material assistance to move in the amount of 84 thousand tenge for each member of the family, monthly subsidies from 35 thousand tenge to 72 thousand tenge were provided for reimbursement of expenses for hiring of housing and payment of utilities.

During the Reporting Meeting, the issues of the labor sphere and migration were also discussed. As a result of measures taken by the Ministry, in 2017 the debt was repaid in the amount of KZT 3 billion and 25,000 workers were protected.

The results achieved in 2017 form the basis for further growth of social protection of the population and the quality of life of citizens in 2018.

So, from January 1, 2018, the level of the poverty line was increased from 40% to 50% of the subsistence level, which allowed to increase the average size of payments by almost 2 times.

In addition, in 2018, a new format for targeting social assistance was introduced, which makes it possible to involve able-bodied members of low-income families in promoting employment. For 5 months of the current year, TSA beneficiaries are about 72 thousand families.

70% of able-bodied TSA beneficiaries were provided with measures to promote employment, of which 22 thousand are employed for permanent jobs.

Also, the Minister drew attention to the fact that already on July 1, pensioners will receive a basic pension in a new amount.

"The increase will affect more than 2 million pensioners, of which about 1 million people will receive a basic pension at the maximum amount, and for 930,000 people, the increase will be from 37% to 81%," Madina Abylkasymova summed up.

Expenses for the support of motherhood and childhood this year will be about 275 billion tenge and will increase by 12% as compared to 2017.

It is important to note that in 2018 measures of social support for people with special needs will be expanded: starting from July 1, a new manual will be introduced for persons caring for adults of the 1st group from childhood. This will allow 14 thousand families to receive cash assistance of about 30 thousand tenge per month.

One of the important activities of the Ministry in 2018 is the formalization of employment. The minister noted that the status of 800 thousand people has been updated today, and a new legal regime has been developed - a single aggregate payment (EPA), for payers of which lower rates for tax and social payments have been determined, and its payment will allow participation in the system of compulsory medical and social insurance , as well as pensions.

In order to involve citizens in productive employment and provide stable incomes of the population, a single online platform has been created to search for work and recruitment - the Electronic Labor Exchange, functioning on the basis of the enbek.kz Internet portal, where today more than 42,000 vacancies are located, more than 85,000 resume and registered more than 48 thousand employers.

As the minister noted, digitalization is an actual line of activity of the department. The Ministry implements proactive services - without applying citizens to state bodies, including for people with disabilities, until the end of 2018, 8 services related to disability will be transferred to a proactive regime. The process of employment is also transferred to the electronic format: from job search to the introduction of electronic labor books.

During the reporting meeting, not only those who were present in the hall, but also citizens from the regions could address the question personally to the minister. This could be done through videoconferencing, as well as through an online forum on the website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Kazakhstan.

So, among the topical issues are the issues of recalculation of the basic pension, the introduction of the disability care benefit for group 1 from childhood, the participation of public associations of disabled people in the public procurement procedure, the introduction of a single aggregate payment, as well as employment issues and conditions for participation in active measures to promote employment, issues of violation of labor rights of citizens. These and other questions were answered exhaustively during the meeting.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population congratulated the participants on the forthcoming 20th anniversary of the capital and noted that the reforms carried out by the Ministry concern every Kazakhstani and are called upon to bring to a new level the well-being of every family and economy of the country as a whole.