Astana, 16 October. From 1 January 2027, Kazakhstan will take the level of family welfare into account when assigning a number of state benefits. Among the affected payments is the childcare benefit for children up to 1.5 years: according to Kurultai deputy Lyazzat Kozhakhmet, more than 30,000 non-working women from families in categories A and B will no longer receive it.
The welfare level is determined through the Digital Family Card, which combines data from state information systems. Five categories are provided, from A to E; according to the Ministry of Labour, the two most affluent categories cover about 4% of the population.
The changes will not affect officially employed women for whom social contributions were paid: they will keep receiving the payment regardless of the family's welfare level. According to Kozhakhmet, the State Social Insurance Fund will pay them 40% of their former salary until the child turns 1.5, with the amount calculated from average earnings over the last two years. In addition, according to the announced changes, the childcare benefit for children under 1.5 years will be paid to women only.
Non-working women who made no social contributions will be able to claim the childbirth benefit and the childcare benefit up to 1.5 years only if their family is recognised as in need of state support.
Benefits that will continue to be assigned without a welfare assessment include, for example, the allowance for mothers of many children who receive an old-age pension, for World War II veterans and home front workers, and for victims of political repression with a disability or a pension; the exemption applies to a specific type of benefit. According to Tengrinews, the final methodology for assessing welfare has not yet been approved.
Background
Currently the childbirth benefit is assigned regardless of family income; in 2026 it is 164,350 tenge for the first, second and third child and 272,475 tenge for the fourth and subsequent children.
