Families with children aged 3-7 during COVID-19: estimate of financial situation and benefit coverage

The paper analyzes the changes in the financial situation of families with children during the pandemic of COVID-19 and the introduction of new eligibility criteria for monthly payments to children aged from 3 to 7 years. The study is based on data from telephone monitoring surveys, representative for the Russian Federation, conducted by RANEPA in October and December 2020, February, May, October, and December 2021. The sample sizes range from 1606 to 2015 people. The results of the study show that the coronavirus epidemic has a negative impact on the financial situation of families with children. The share of poor families receiving social benefits to children aged 3 to 7 years has decreased following the introduction of additional eligibility criteria in 2021. Less than half of poor families with children of this age receive these payments. The benefit coverage decreased significantly among the families with unemployed people - by 2 times. The share of families with self-employed workers, receiving such benefits, has decreased by 2.3 times. As a result of the benefit increase, the share of families with children aged 3-7 years lifted out of poverty has grown by more than two times, but more than 60% of recipients remain monetary poor. This indicates that improvement of eligibility criteria and procedure for determining the level of social benefits are very important.