It can be assumed that this form of one-off payment has cushioned additional costs caused by inflation to a certain extent. A continuation of this benefit depends on the general framework conditions.
Carinthia Bonus Plus for low-income households
Official Name of Signatory
State of Carinthia (Austria)
Delegation
Europe
Website of the Signatory
Name of the person presenting the Good Practice
Mag. Claudia Unterrieder
Position/Job Title of person presenting the Good Practice
Sub-Department Head
Aim of the Good Practice
The aim is to support about 70,000 Carinthian households in the low-income segment. The support amounts to a total of € 600 per household, which is paid out in four installments (January € 100, February € 300, March € 100, April € 100).
Target Group of the Good Practice
The target group is households in the low-income segment, such as recipients of social assistance, housing allowance, family allowance, heating allowance, equalization supplement, and persons in households with low unemployment assistance. At the same time, this measure also reaches the middle classes in Carinthia. In addition, there is a separate support line for single parents as a particularly vulnerable target group.
Implementation period
The first payments of the Carinthia Bonus Plus will be made on 15.01.2023. The end of the application period has been set for the time being at 30.04.2023.
Consistency over time
The Carinthia Bonus was launched for the first time in 2022. In 2022, however, significantly less was paid out with a payment of € 200. The Carinthia Bonus Plus in 2023 is the second edition. It is currently not foreseeable whether the Carinthia Bonus will be continued in this form.
Evaluation of the Good Practice
The effects of this measure are not evaluated. There is no scientific monitoring. However, financial support for the lowest income segment is ensured.
Key stakeholders and partnerships
The first Carinthia Bonus was financed from funds of the province of Carinthia. In the case of the Carinthia Bonus Plus, funding was also provided using allocated federal funds (special-purpose grants).The Carinthian provincial government is responsible for the implementation with extensive support from the municipalities, as the application can be submitted via the municipalities.
Link for more information
Future Goal 1
Each year all specific « Impuls programs » will be evaluated and adapted on the basis of new technologies and challenges.
Future Goal 2
If the current economic framework conditions (inflation) were to solidify, other parameters would primarily have to be changed (level of the equalization supplement reference rate, taxation of income, adjustment of unemployment benefit and the level of the emergency allowance, increase of other transfer payments, e.g. family allowance).
Future Goal 3
Social assistance as the last network of social security was never designed as a mass instrument and should only be used for such measures in exceptional cases.