Since 2023, the Ministry of Welfare has been implementing the Minimum Income Reform, which is part of the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility plan. The aim of the reform is to ensure a fairer and more effective social security system by reviewing minimum income thresholds annually and linking them to the income median.
During the discussion held on 24 September 2025 in Riga, professionals from various fields assessed the results of the reform and highlighted its importance in reducing poverty and promoting social inclusion.
The main conclusion – poverty cannot be reduced by benefits alone. Situations, circumstances, and people are very different; therefore, a compassionate, respectful, and individual approach is needed for each person. The reform is a step in the right direction, but there is still much work to be done.
Full recording of the panel discussion “The Last Social Safety Net – Who Falls Into It and How Does It Work?”
The minimum income reform is aimed at reducing inequality and is included in Latvia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan under the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility as Reform No. 3.1.2.r – “Access to social and employment services in support of the minimum income reform”.
The minimum income reform is based on the following principles:
a transition from defining the minimum income as a fixed nominal amount in euros to defining it as a percentage of the median equivalised disposable income of households – a statistical indicator that represents the central value (midpoint of the distribution) of observations ordered from the lowest to the highest value – namely, the establishment and legal закрепление of the lower bound of the minimum income threshold at a level not lower than 20% of the median income;
the introduction, as of 2023, of an annual review mechanism for the minimum income threshold. This mechanism is based on changes in the median income reflecting actual socio-economic developments, while ensuring that the minimum income threshold is not reduced in cases where the median income decreases.
Amendments to the Law on Social Security supported by the Government on 24 January 2023 provide that, as of 1 July 2023, the minimum income threshold shall not be lower than 20% of the median income. Differentiated minimum income thresholds are established across areas of the social protection system. These apply to recipients of the state social security benefit, recipients of minimum old-age, disability and survivor’s pensions, recipients of municipal social assistance, as well as to benefits granted to orphans and young people who have been left without parental care after reaching the age of majority following the end of out-of-family care (institutional care, foster care or guardianship).
NEWS
Minimum income amounts increased from 1 January 2026 05.01.2026.
Lowest-income residents will get more support this year 06.01.2025.
#SocialProtection #NextGenerationEU #EUSocial
