Christmas supplements for pensioners in 2025: who and how much will receive

This year, the state is again promising additional assistance to the most vulnerable elderly people – this time again in the form of Christmas supplements to pensions. The Council of Ministers decided to pay a one-off payment of 120 leva to pensioners with the lowest incomes, and the money should arrive along with the pensions for December 2025, shortly before the Christmas holidays themselves. The decision was made at a cabinet meeting and later came out in the public space – first through the social minister Borislav Gutsanov, and then through various people from the ruling coalition. In the corridors of parliament, an elderly man who was waiting for the minister sighed: "At least for the holidays to have something more on the table, otherwise it's hard", and a woman next to him added: "120 leva is not much, but it's still better than nothing, at least we will get something for the children".

Those pensioners whose total monthly income from pensions and additional payments to them does not exceed the poverty line for 2025, set at 638 leva, are entitled to such a Christmas supplement. In practice, this means that the measure is aimed only at people with the lowest pensions, while the rest of the elderly, even if they feel difficulties, will not receive this additional transfer. According to calculations by the government and the National Social Security Institute (NSSI), this concerns about 536,000 people – approximately every fourth pensioner in the country, which shows how large a group the decision affects. "I am a little above these 638 leva and I will not get anything," a reader from Ruse said on the phone. "We will still manage somehow, but at least the neighbor, who can barely make ends meet, will get something for Christmas," she adds.

The amount of the Christmas supplement is fixed – 120 leva, paid once to the pension for the month of December, without different steps or additional levels. The accrual will be carried out ex officio by the NSSI, so that pensioners do not have to submit new applications, declarations or other documents with which administrations usually burden them. The idea is for the funds to reach people on time, before the holidays, and at least partially cover the higher costs of food, heating and medicines – all things that always weigh more in the family budget in winter. "With this money, I will at least pay my electricity bill and have something sweet left for the grandchildren, because they always ask for sweets," smiled a pensioner who was waiting her turn in front of the post office and was holding a sheet with the bills in her hand.

Social Minister Borislav Gutsanov stated that "every fourth pensioner will receive Christmas supplements for the upcoming holidays" and stressed that the assistance is aimed at the elderly with incomes up to the poverty line, and not to everyone equally. In his words, the Christmas supplements are rather a temporary, but important step – something like an interim solution, while at the same time deeper legislative changes are being prepared for a longer-term approach to additional support for pensioners and other vulnerable groups. When asked by a reporter whether 120 leva is enough, the minister replied: "No one claims that this solves all problems, but it is a specific gesture at a time when people's expenses are highest", and after a short pause he added that he hears phrases from elderly people like "this is also help for us, we do not underestimate it".

The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is already preparing changes in the legislation to introduce a more sustainable and predictable mechanism for Christmas and Easter supplements, so that the same drama "will there be or won't there be" is not repeated every year. It is laid down in a special text to describe clear rules according to which not only pensioners, but also other vulnerable people can count on such holiday payments, depending on specific criteria and the state of the state budget. According to Minister Gutsanov, such an approach would limit the annual disputes and spontaneous, taken "at the last moment" decisions on the topic. "People should know in advance what they can count on, and not wait until December in ignorance," he commented to journalists in the ministry corridor, while several elderly women stopped him for brief questions and thanks.

For pensioners who meet the conditions, the Christmas bonus will be transferred in their familiar way – by bank transfer or postal order, together with the regular pension for December, without any change in the usual scheme. The NSSI and the Ministry of Social Affairs recommend that elderly people look at the total amount of their pensions and supplements in advance to assess whether they fall into the target group for assistance, instead of waiting for the last moment and then wondering why they did not receive money. "I will ask my granddaughter to check on the Internet, I don't understand these things," says a pensioner from a small town and smiles that young people "deal with computers in seconds". The government expects that this additional payment will alleviate at least part of the financial pressure on the poorest pensioners in the days before Christmas and New Year, when expenses usually rise, and many people literally count every penny before going to the store.