Adopted: 2006Last amended: 2022Body: Social Service AgencyMatsne →
~156,000
TSA beneficiary households
GEL 270
Average TSA monthly payment
2022
Conditionality reform year
~29%
Population below poverty line
Overview
Georgia's Targeted Social Assistance System
The Law on Social Assistance (2006) establishes Georgia's primary income support system — the Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) programme — for households below the poverty threshold. TSA uses a proxy means test (PMT) — the 'socially vulnerable families register' welfare score — to determine eligibility. The Social Service Agency (SSA) administers the programme under the MLHSA.
TSA is Georgia's main social safety net. Approximately 156,000 households (roughly 350,000 individuals) receive monthly cash transfers. The average payment is GEL 270 per household per month — well below the subsistence minimum of GEL 595 per adult per month (Geostat 2023). The programme has faced criticism for: inadequate payment levels, poor targeting accuracy, and benefit cliffs that discourage formal employment.
The 2022 reform introduced meaningful conditionality for working-age recipients: TSA households with unemployed working-age adult members must demonstrate active job-seeking (registered with ESDC) to maintain eligibility. This links social assistance to active labour market participation — a critical design improvement aligned with EU social investment approach.
Historical development
From State Largesse to Targeted Support: 1991–2024
1991–2004
Post-Soviet categorical benefit system. Universal categorical benefits (pensioners, veterans, invalids, etc.) replaced gradually. No means-testing. Budget pressures. Benefit levels fell sharply in real terms after 1991 hyperinflation.
2006
TSA system established — proxy means test introduced. Welfare scoring based on observable household characteristics (housing quality, assets, demographics). Objective PMT score replaces discretionary administrative decisions. International praise for targeting methodology.
2012–2016
Expansion and adequacy debate. Payment levels increased several times but remain below subsistence minimum. Coverage expanded to ~200,000 households at peak. Poverty trap identified: TSA reduced sharply on any income, discouraging formal work.
2019–2020
Digital transformation. TSA application fully digitalised. SSA online portal. Mobile assessment capability. Processing time reduced from 45 to 15 days. Error detection improved through cross-checking with tax records.
2022
Conditionality reform. Working-age TSA recipients must register with ESDC and actively job-seek. Non-compliance: warning first, then 30% benefit reduction, then suspension. Also: GRB integration — Social Assistance Expenditure included in Gender Responsive Budget analysis.
TSA Average Monthly Payment vs Subsistence Minimum — 2016–2023 (GEL)
Monthly TSA average payment per household vs adult subsistence minimum. Source: SSA, Geostat.
Source: Social Service Agency Annual Reports 2016–2023; Geostat subsistence minimum basket 2016–2023. GEL values in nominal terms.
Art. 1: TSA provides monthly cash transfers to households below the welfare score threshold. Art. 2: Welfare score (rating score) calculated through proxy means test — household assessment covering: housing quality and ownership, household assets (appliances, vehicles), demographic composition, employment status. Art. 3: SSA conducts home visits for assessment — re-assessment every 6 months or on change of circumstances. Art. 4: Payment amounts: base payment GEL 100/month per household + GEL 50 per child under 16 + GEL 20 per person over 60 or with disability. Average total: GEL 270/month. Art. 5: Banking — payment via designated bank accounts (Bank of Georgia or TBC). Art. 6: Appeal — household may appeal rating score to SSA District Office within 30 days.
GILS note: Average TSA payment of GEL 270/month is 45% of the adult subsistence minimum (GEL 595/month, Geostat 2023). This gap has widened consistently since 2018 as subsistence minimum inflation exceeded TSA payment increases. The current payment level does not meet the constitutional right to adequate standard of living.
Chapter II — Conditionality
Articles 7–11
Work Requirements for TSA Recipients
Art. 7: Working-age TSA recipients (18-65, without disability or caregiving responsibilities) must register with ESDC within 30 days of TSA award. Art. 8: Active job-seeking obligations — minimum 3 employer contacts per month documented in worknet.ge. Art. 9: Participation in ESDC vocational training or temporary employment programmes when offered. Art. 10: Sanctions: failure to comply — written warning; continued non-compliance — 30% benefit reduction for 3 months; continued non-compliance — full suspension pending compliance. Art. 11: Exemptions — caregivers of children under 3, persons with disability, persons over 60.
GILS note: The conditionality system is a significant improvement but requires adequate ESDC capacity to be fair. If ESDC cannot offer realistic employment or training opportunities, requiring job-seeking as a condition is a poverty trap, not an activation measure. ESDC and SSA must coordinate to ensure conditionality is matched by genuine opportunity.
Strengths: PMT welfare scoring is one of the most sophisticated in the South Caucasus — substantially more accurate than categorical benefit systems. 2022 conditionality reform links TSA to ESDC activation — a critical design improvement. Digital transformation has reduced error rates and processing times significantly.
Critical gap — payment adequacy: Average TSA of GEL 270/month is 45% of adult subsistence minimum. The poverty trap (benefit sharply reduced on any formal income) means TSA recipients cannot afford to take up formal employment without severe income loss. These are structural design failures that undermine both poverty reduction and labour activation goals.
GILS Policy Recommendations
Five Priority Reforms
Recommendation 01
Increase TSA payment to 70% of subsistence minimum
Current GEL 270 average is 45% of subsistence minimum. Increase base payment to GEL 420/month (70% of 2023 subsistence minimum), indexed to annual subsistence minimum updates. Estimated cost increase: GEL 230M annually. Funding: 60% state budget, 40% EU IPA social protection programme (currently available). This would reduce extreme poverty rate by approximately 8 percentage points.
EU Social Protection Guidelines · World Bank Georgia Poverty Assessment 2023 · ILO C102 minimum social security
Recommendation 02
Introduce earnings disregard — reform Article 4
Current system: any formal income above GEL 10/month reduces TSA. This creates cliff-edge disincentive to formal work. Introduce earnings disregard: first GEL 300 of monthly formal employment earnings excluded from PMT score for 24 months. Above GEL 300: gradual 50% taper (GEL 1 of formal income above threshold reduces TSA by GEL 0.50). This eliminates the poverty trap and is the single most impactful labour market activation measure available.
UK (Working Tax Credit model) · Germany (ALG II §30 Freibetrag) · Poland (activation supplement)
Recommendation 03
Child poverty focus — enhanced child supplement
TSA child supplement (GEL 50/child/month) is inadequate for households with multiple children in deep poverty. Create a separate Early Childhood TSA for children under 3: GEL 150/child/month regardless of household TSA status (universal baby bonus). Evidence shows early childhood poverty has the highest long-term social cost (health, education, adult earnings). Estimated cost: GEL 85M/year; estimated reduction in child poverty: 12 percentage points.
EU Child Guarantee · Romania (Early Childhood Benefit) · Bulgaria (child allowance reform 2022)
Recommendation 04
Improve PMT accuracy — use administrative data
Current PMT relies on home visits and self-reported asset ownership — creating opportunities for misreporting. Link PMT calculation to administrative records: (1) tax authority data on formal income; (2) vehicle registry (car ownership is a key PMT variable); (3) property registry (housing ownership); (4) bank account data (with consent). Estonia's integrated database model reduced targeting errors by 40% — achievable in Georgia given existing e-government infrastructure.
Estonia (andmekogu model) · Georgia e-Government digital identity · World Bank targeting accuracy study
Recommendation 05
Quarterly poverty monitoring and payment indexation
TSA payment levels have fallen behind subsistence minimum consistently since 2018. Establish: (1) automatic annual indexation of TSA base payment to Geostat subsistence minimum; (2) quarterly SSA publication of benefit adequacy ratio (TSA/subsistence minimum); (3) Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee annual review of adequacy with binding recommendation to Government. This removes political discretion from payment levels and ensures TSA keeps pace with living costs.
ILO C102 · EU Social Protection Expenditure Review · Moldova (automatic indexation 2020)
Social assistance that leaves recipients at 45% of the subsistence minimum is not a safety net — it is a poverty floor. Combined with a benefit system that punishes formal employment, it traps households in poverty rather than enabling transition to self-sufficiency. The 2022 conditionality reform is the right direction; it now needs the matching improvements in payment adequacy and earnings disregard to make the social contract work.
— GILS Research Position Paper on Social Assistance Reform, September 2026
ILO Convention
Subject
Ratified
Compliance
Key Gap
C102
Social Security (Minimum Standards)
a
a
TSA at 45% subsistence minimum falls below C102 standards