Who might have their child allowances suspended starting from August?
Starting from August 2026, some families in Uzbekistan may lose their child allowances or material assistance. However, the new requirement does not apply equally to all allowance recipients — the main change affects families classified as "poor families" in the Social Register whose able-bodied members are not officially employed.
For families whose benefits were assigned in February, the six-month period ends at the end of July. Therefore, in August, their employment status may be re-verified through the electronic system.
Why will August specifically be the decisive month?
Under Presidential Decree No. PF-258 dated December 26, 2025, a unified Social Register was introduced starting February 1, 2026, on the basis of the "Unified Social Protection Register" and the Register of Poor Families.
In the new system, families are divided into three categories:
"families under state provision";
"poor families";
"families at the poverty threshold."
For those in the "poor family" category, child allowances or material assistance are initially paid for six months. During this time, the able-bodied members of the family must ensure their official employment. If the employment requirement is met, payments will continue without requiring an additional application.
For families whose allowances were assigned in February, the six-month calculation covers the period from February to July. If the requirement is not met, payments may be suspended starting the following month.
In which cases will allowances be suspended?
According to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 35 dated January 29, 2026, if an officially unemployed able-bodied member of a family in the "poor family" category fails to fulfill one of the following conditions within six months, the allowance or material assistance will be suspended:
fails to get an official job;
fails to start activities as an individual entrepreneur;
fails to register as a self-employed person;
rejects suitable employment offered by the employment authority two or more times.
Payments will be canceled starting from the month following the month in which such a situation is detected.
Is registration alone sufficient?
Under the new procedure, official employment is verified not only through paperwork records but also via data in electronic systems.
In particular:
an employment or civil law contract must be registered in the "Unified National Labor System";
an individual entrepreneur must regularly pay turnover tax;
a self-employed person must pay the full social tax established for the calculation of labor seniority.
If an individual entrepreneur fails to pay the relevant tax for three months, they may not be considered officially employed. It is also established that a person whose labor income over the past three months is below the minimum wage will not be accepted as officially employed in the system.
Who is exempt from the requirement?
The requirement to secure official employment is not automatically applied to every seemingly able-bodied family member. Legislation provides for a number of exceptions.
In particular, the requirement does not apply to:
mothers or their substitutes caring for a child under three years of age;
full-time students;
pensioners and certain allowance recipients;
persons with group I or II disabilities;
those caring for a disabled child, a person with a group I disability, or an elderly person over 80 requiring care;
conscript military servicemen;
persons officially registered as job seekers or unemployed with the employment authority;
persons sent for vocational training, retraining, or advanced training;
certain single fathers or mothers established by legislation.
Therefore, the mere presence of an unemployed member in a family does not mean that allowances will be immediately suspended. First, it is checked whether this person falls into one of the exception categories.
Will "families under state provision" also lose their allowances?
No, this employment requirement primarily applies to families included in the "poor family" category of the Social Register.
Citizens in the "family under state provision" category receive child allowances and material assistance regardless of the employment status of family members for the entire period they remain in this category.
For those included in the "family at the poverty threshold" category, payments are assigned for six months. The amount given to families in this category is reduced depending on their income level.
How is the allowance amount calculated?
If a family is transferred from the "family under state provision" or "poor family" category to the "family at the poverty threshold" category, the payment amount is determined based on the average monthly income per member:
if income is between 1 and 1.25 times the minimum consumer expenditure — 75 percent of the established allowance;
if income is between 1.25 and 1.5 times the minimum consumer expenditure — 50 percent of the established allowance is paid.
In this case, submitting an additional application is not required — the payment amount is automatically recalculated in the information system.
What needs to be done to maintain the payments?
An allowance-receiving family must first check which category they are assigned to in the Social Register and whether the employment status of able-bodied members is correctly reflected in the system.
A person without an official job may:
register as a job seeker at the district or city employment department;
not unreasonably refuse offered suitable jobs;
find employment;
legally formalize activities as an entrepreneur or self-employed person.
The decision to assign or suspend allowances is made automatically in the electronic system, and a notification is sent to the applicant via SMS. To clarify the matter, one can contact the "Inson" social services center, the Public Services Center, or the short number 1140 of the National Social Protection Agency.
The main goal of the new procedure is to deliver social assistance in a targeted manner to truly needy families and to encourage the official employment of able-bodied citizens. However, before suspending allowances, each family's category, employment status, and legislative exceptions must be taken into account separately.
In your opinion, does linking allowances to official employment encourage families to work, or does it create additional difficulties for citizens in need of social protection?
Comments 0
…