New minister eyes tackling demographic, poverty problems by tripling maternity benefit

The ministry of labor and social affairs will submit a recommendation to the government on tripling the child birth benefit from the current 50,000 drams to 150,000 drams starting July 1, 2018, minister Mane Tandilyan said on Facebook.

She mentioned that demographic problems and the high poverty rate are among the top priorities of the government’s social sector.

Minister Tandilyan said the current benefits are fat from being sufficient. But according to her, this change is possible to be done within the framework of the 2017 state budget.

“The issue will have a more comprehensive and effective solution soon”, she said.