TIRANA, Nov 5 /ATA/ – The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has earmarked 33.4 billion leks for social welfare programmes in 2027, focusing on vulnerable families, people with disabilities and other groups facing economic and social hardship, Minister Klodiana Spahiu said on Thursday.
Presenting the 2027 draft budget to Parliament’s Committee on Health and Social Welfare, Spahiu said 31.4 billion leks would go to the Social Welfare programme, with the remaining funding covering social care services and support for former political prisoners.
She said social welfare funding had increased by 44% compared with 2014, while 6.8 billion leks had been allocated to the economic assistance scheme, expected to benefit around 59,000 families.
The minister said employment and vocational training programmes would continue alongside financial assistance, adding that around 3,500 people had entered the labour market over the past year through such initiatives.
A key new measure is monthly financial support for low-income families with children aged up to five, scheduled to begin in July 2027. The programme will receive 500 million leks in its first year, with annual funding expected to rise to 1.1 billion leks in subsequent years.
“We are proposing an important new step: monthly support for low-income families with children aged zero to five. The measure aims to help families meet the costs of raising children and sends a clear message that families remain at the centre of our policies,” Spahiu said.
The draft budget also allocates 2.8 billion leks to the Baby Bonus programme and provides for continued payment of social security and health insurance contributions for unemployed women with three or more children. The latter measure is expected to benefit around 8,900 mothers.
Around 19 billion leks has been earmarked for people with disabilities and their caregivers, covering approximately 99,000 beneficiaries. Spahiu also highlighted measures introduced in 2026, including increased payments for 10,240 children with disabilities and social security coverage for 14,657 personal assistants.
The budget further provides 1.4 billion leks for social care institutions and 480 million leks for the Social Fund, which supports the development of services at municipal level.
Another initiative planned for 2027 is a National Support Platform for Extremely Poor Families, aimed at helping 2,763 households in cooperation with municipalities, civil society, religious communities and development partners.
“This is a challenge not only for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, but for Albanian society as a whole,” Spahiu said.
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