Financial situation and social support received by families with children in Ulyanovsk oblast

The aim of this work is to analyze the financial situation and the level of social support received by families with children in Ulyanovsk oblast on the basis of the data from household survey conducted in Ulyanovsk oblast. The study showed that the poverty rate among the surveyed households with children under 18 is significantly higher than the total poverty rate among the households. Many families with children cannot afford buying goods and services they need. In order to maintain their consumption level, a significant proportion of families with children have to take out loans. Analysis of the survey data shows that the coverage of families with children by social benefits is quite high. At the same time, even among the poor households with children, one quarter of households does not receive any social benefits. The surveyed families with children noted difficulties faced by them in obtaining information about social benefits and in collecting necessary documents, long waiting in queues when applying for benefits. The calculations show that provision of regional benefits, including targeted regional benefits, reduces the poverty rate among households with children only slightly. In general, regional benefits are more likely to reduce the extreme poverty of household with children. The analysis presented in the article allows determining possible directions for improving the social support system in Ulyanovsk oblast.