“We say in the State Budget that a person can live on UAH 3 thousand, while the Ministry of Social Policy calculates the real subsistence level at UAH 9 thousand.” Roksolana Pidlasa

Social standards are one of the most discussed topics during the formation of the budget, especially in conditions of economic difficulties. Frozen at the level of the previous year, they became a topic for discussion during the preparation of the state budget for 2025. The decision not to increase social benefits is explained by limited resources. At the same time, the question arises about the need to review approaches to social benefits and find new mechanisms to ensure fairness in their distribution.

Social standards in the draft state budget for 2025 remain frozen, as their improvement requires significant funds. About this reported Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Budget Issues, Roksolana Pidlas.

“According to the calculations of the Ministry of Finance, if this year it (minimum wage index, – ed.) is increased by UAH 100, then state budget expenditures will increase by UAH 5.3 billion. That is, if the minimum wage is raised, for example, by UAH 1,000 to UAH 9,000, then it will be more than UAH 50 billion in budget expenditures.” – believes the head of the Committee.

In addition, Pidlasa noted that the “freezing” of the living wage cannot be brought to a real level, since many payments are tied to it. Also, according to the chairman of the committee, the category “subsistence minimum” should be abandoned altogether during budget calculations.

“Because it causes a lot of negativity towards the state, when we allegedly say in an official document, in the state budget, that a person should be able to live on UAH 3,000, while the Ministry of Social Policy on the next street calculates the actual, real living wage approximately at the level of UAH 9,000”. – emphasizes Podlasa.

In her opinion, instead, it is worth establishing some basic calculation value to which the salaries of judges, prosecutors, anti-corruption bodies, etc. will be tied.

The head of the Committee added that the opportunity to review social standards will appear if GDP growth for the first half of next year exceeds the forecast.

“Now the forecast is 2.7% real GDP growth for 2025. If, based on the results of the first half of the year, we review the macro forecast and understand that it is more than 2.7%, then we will need to review the social standards.” – said Podlasa.

At the same time, the deputy expressed the opinion that the social sphere is the only category of budget expenditures in which optimization can be carried out.

“Unfortunately, for me and, probably, for many people, the budget was balanced at the expense of social security, because it is impossible to balance it at the expense of something else. The next categories in terms of expenditures are education and medicine, and each of these budgets is half as much as that allocated to social welfare, it is difficult to effectively optimize anything there.” – explained the head of the Committee.

At the same time, Roksolana Pidlasa expressed concern that the official and real living wage in Ukraine do not correspond to each other. According to her, the government has set the subsistence minimum at the level of 3 thousand hryvnias per month, which, in her opinion, is not enough for a normal life. At the same time, the Ministry of Social Policy estimates the real living wage at the level of 9 thousand hryvnias.

Podlasa also pointed to the problem of bringing the official living wage to a real level, as many social benefits are tied to it. She believes that this category needs to be revised in the context of budget planning, since inequality in determining the living wage causes negative attitudes of citizens towards the state.

“This causes a lot of negativity towards the state when we state in official documents that a person can live on 3 thousand hryvnias, while the Ministry of Social Policy calculates the real minimum at the level of 9 thousand.” – noted Podlasa.

The head of the budget committee suggested introducing a new basic calculation value, which would become the basis for determining the salaries of judges, prosecutors and employees of anti-corruption bodies. This could solve the problem of the discrepancy between the official and real living wage.

Podlasa also reported that in the draft budget for 2025, social standards will remain at the current level due to limited financial resources. She gave an example that raising the minimum wage by a small amount would require additional financial resources, which is difficult in the current economic situation.

As reported earlier, Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko stated that the draft state budget for 2025 does not provide for raising social standards, as the country does not have such an opportunity.

We will remind, on September 13, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft law “On the state budget of Ukraine for 2025”.

The government left the main social indicators in the budget for next year unchanged:

– minimum salary – UAH 8,000 or UAH 48 per hour;

– subsistence minimum (general) – UAH 2,920;

– living wage (for able-bodied persons) – UAH 3,028;

– subsistence minimum (for persons who have lost their ability to work) – UAH 2,361.

Teachers’ salaries will also remain at the level of 2024, “despite the reduction in the number of students,” the Cabinet of Ministers specified. At the same time, the average salary in 2025 should increase from UAH 20,581 to UAH 24,389 per month.

Earlier it was reported that bonuses for some judges may be increased in Ukraine. The Ministry of Finance proposes to pay local judges bonuses of up to 40% of the official salary per month. Derbudget probably has the money for this.