Revising Household Needs Index in the Means Tested Formula in Georgia

The project aims to revise the Needs Index and upgrade it to better reflect current reality. ISET Policy Institute was contracted by UNICEF to revise the Needs Index and upgrade it to reflect current reality. Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Affairs of Georgia, the Social Service Agency and UNICEF are in the process of refining the social service protection system in Georgia to make it more child sensitive. The current system uses sophisticated methodology of calculating the score of the household which applies for the assistance to the socially Unprotected Families.

One of the most important elements in the methodology is Needs Index which translates needs of different families into monetary value. The coefficients which are used for calculating these needs of each family depends on current prices and policy, though it was not upgraded after instillation of this method which was nearly 10 years ago.