Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 23/5/2025; Author: Meta Gantar
The Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities estimates that over 33,000 unemployed individuals received financial social assistance last year, just over 40% of all recipients. However, the number of people receiving this support specifically due to unemployability is not known.
Freedom Movement MP Sandra Gazinkovski claimed at a 7 May National Assembly session on changes to social transfer legislation that most people receive social assistance because they are unemployable.
Under the Social Assistance Payments Act, financial social assistance and supplementary allowance are intended for individuals who cannot provide for their own material security due to circumstances beyond their control. Financial social assistance is meant to cover basic survival needs, while supplementary allowance is intended for longer-term costs, such as home maintenance.
The Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities clarified that 78,485 individuals were eligible for financial social assistance last year. However, they do not track reasons like unemployability, as social work centres assess only financial eligibility for aid, not the underlying cause.
Based on the number of insurance policies for unemployment among recipients of financial social assistance, the ministry estimates that unemployed individuals formed the largest group of recipients in 2023 – 33,224 people, or 42.3% of all beneficiaries.
The Employment Service of Slovenia told Razkrinkavanje.si that those registered as unemployed must actively seek work. Failure to do so can result in the loss of financial social assistance.
People who are formally unemployable based on decisions issued by the Employment Service of Slovenia under the Employment Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities Act are not listed in the unemployment register. These individuals are no longer considered active job seekers and are instead included in social support schemes. Since 2005, 5,983 such decisions have been issued, including 389 last year.
“An unemployability decision does not automatically entitle someone to financial social assistance or supplementary allowance,” they stressed. They do not track how many people with such decisions also receive social assistance, as income eligibility is not assessed during the unemployability evaluation, only work capacity is.
Unemployability decisions are issued by a rehabilitation commission composed of employment rehabilitation experts. They assess how medical and psychological factors affect a disabled person’s ability to work. If a person is deemed unable to meet at least one-third of the work output expected of a typical employee, the person is ruled unemployable due to disability.
Neither the ministry nor the Association of Social Work Centres maintains a database of financial social assistance recipients who are formally deemed unemployable.
Under the Labour Market Regulation Act, a person can also be classified as temporarily unemployable for health reasons lasting more than 60 days, including addiction, mental health issues, or severe social difficulties. In such cases, a commission comprising an employment counsellor, a social worker and a rehabilitation advisor draws up an activity plan to help the individual regain employability as soon as possible and turn them into job seekers again.
We have informed Sandra Gazinkovski of our findings and will publish her response once we have received it. According to the Razkrinkavanje.si methodology, we rate her claim as unfounded, as there is no precise data on the number of unemployable individuals receiving social assistance.
