Social protection

Welfare payments are funded through contributions from insured persons, employers and taxes. There is a compulsory social insurance scheme for employees. Earnings-related pensions depend on contributions and the duration of affiliation (MISSOC, 2008.

Increased Family Allowance: In 2007 69.131 children received this benefit of € 138,30 per month.

Invalidity related Pensions: In 2005 expenditure on invalidity-related pensions for people under the age of retirement amounted to roughly EUR 4 billion. This corresponds to 6% of all social welfare benefits and 1.6% of GDP. (Social protection in Austria (2008).

In December 2007, 440.780 people received an invalidity-related pension. The average monthly invalidity pension was € 863 (€ 589 female; € 1.049.- male) (Report on the State of People with Disabilities published by the Federal Ministry for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, 2008, in German)

Rehabilitation and re-training

Apart from cash benefits, the social insurance institutions, the Public Employment Service, the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection (primarily via the Federal Social Office) as well as the Provices and their local authorities offer medical, social and occupational rehabilitation and support in the context of employment as well as other spheres of life. There are currently no overall data available concerning all kind of rehabilitation measures for people with disabilities in Austria, but here are two examples:

The accident insurance institution makes an important contribution to the rehabilitation of persons who are affected by occupational accidents or diseases. Measures serve to provide treatment and re-integrate those concerned into working life. In 2006 EUR 343 million and EUR 71 million respectively were spent on these purposes. (Social protection in Austria (2008).

The federal government started an additional programme in 2001 to improve the situation of disabled people on the labour market. Central to the measures is their integration or reintegration into the labour market. In 2007, € 153 Mio. were spent in the framework of this programme. A total of 52 009 people with disabilities thus received benefits in kind. (Report on the State of People with Disabilities published by the Federal Ministry for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, 2008. Available in German).

Preferential employment and quotas

To promote the integration of disabled people into the world of work, companies with at least 25 employees are obliged to take on at least one disabled person per 25 employees.If this quota is not fulfilled by a company, a contribution of €213 per month (2008) for each job not occupied has to be paid to a specially established state fund (equalisation tax fund). The money in this fund is earmarked for the financing of services which directly benefit disabled people or is granted to those employers who employ disabled people. In recent years an annual sum of around E 80 million was spent in this way. Of the approx. 92,551 private-sector jobs which should have been taken up by disabled people in 2006, about 65% of the quota was fulfilled. This quote has been constant for the last years.

Long-term support and care

Most of the social services for disabled people are regional responsibilities of the nine Austrian provinces and their local authorities in cities and villages. Many federal laws and laws oft he provinces deal with issues that are relevant for people with disabilities.

Long-term care benefit: all people in need of care and nursing can receive cash benefits depending on their care requirements and regardless of their financial situation, through long term care benefit.

In Dec. 2007, 12,510 children and young people aged 0 to 20 (5,178 female; 7,332 male) received long term care benefit. A total of 62,145 people (29 015 female; 33,130 male) aged 21 to 60 received long term care benefit (own calculation) Depending on individual support needs, there are seven levels of long-term care benefit that range between €154.20 (more than 50 monthly hours of care needs) and €1,655.80 (more than 180 monthly hours of care needs). (Report on the State of People with Disabilities published by the Federal Ministry for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, 2008, in German.