The implementation of the social assistance project currently being fine-tuned in the legislature will require a total budget of 25 billion MAD in 2024, which will be increased to 29 bln MAD starting in 2026, announced Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch on Monday during a joint plenary session of Lower and Upper Houses.
Akhannouch explained that this budget is an addition to the State’s annual allocation of 10 bln MAD for expanding health coverage to poor and vulnerable families. He noted that the total of these allocations will reach a budget of 40 bln MAD by 2026, covering both aspects of social protection, namely medical coverage and direct social assistance.
The direct social assistance program includes direct social assistance to families with children, with dependents over the age of over 21–including elderly dependents–along with a birth allowance.
Concerning the first measure, there will be a monthly allowance for every child under the age of 21. Children from birth to the age of 5 will receive a 200 MAD monthly allowance commencing from the end of December 2023. This amount will continue throughout 2024, increasing to 250 DH per month in 2025 and 300 DH per month starting in 2026. Families with more than three children will receive an additional monthly stipend of 36 MAD each for the fourth, fifth, and sixth children, similar to allowances given to private sector employees.
Children of school age will maintain the same allowance between the ages of 6 and 21. Disabled children will receive a monthly allowance of 300 MAD in 2024, which will be increased to 400 MAD in 2026.
In order to support the children of widowed women who previously benefited from a dedicated support program, Akhannouch stated that the state will continue to provide 350 MAD per month for each child until the end of 2024, then 375 MAD per child per month throughout 2025, and finally, it will be increased to 400 MAD per child per month starting in 2026. The amount of this allowance will decrease if the child’s education is interrupted.
Regarding the second measure, families without children or with children over 21, especially those with elderly dependents, will receive fixed monthly financial assistance of 500 MAD starting from the end of December 2023. The direct social assistance program creates a social safety net by providing at least 500 MAD per month to each household, regardless of its number of members.
The amount of direct social assistance for each targeted family can total over 1,000 MAD per month, depending on its size, particularly with respect to the number of children.
Additionally, a family with only one child will receive 500 MAD per month as of December of this year, while a family with two school-age children will receive 500 MAD per month starting from 2023’s end, along with 600 MAD per month starting in 2026.
A widow with one child will receive 500 MAD monthly starting at the end of this year; however, if she has two children, she will receive 700 MAD in 2024 and 800 MAD beginning in 2026. If the widow has three children, she will receive 1,050 MAD in 2024 and 1,200 MAD in 2026.
As for the third measure that is related to the birth allowance, the Head of Government clarified that a sum of 2,000 MAD will be granted to each family for the first birth, while a sum of 1,000 MAD will be provided for the second birth.