Unemployment allowance excludes two social security benefits, minister says

Mohamed Hattab, minister of labour, employment and social security, has said that people receiving unemployment allowance in Algeria cannot claim two social security benefits.

Algérie 360 reported the answer, given to a written question from Bekhda Belalia, a deputy in the People's National Assembly (APN). The question, numbered 519, is dated 11 October 2026.

The allowance opens rights to health insurance, the minister said. However, beneficiaries cannot claim a survivor's pension passed on to dependants, or the death grant (capital décès).

The reason is their status as people insured in their own right. This status decides which benefits they can receive.

The allowance is paid to first-time job seekers while they look for work. It also gives them and their dependants access to health care benefits in kind, and the state pays the social security contribution deducted from the allowance.

Because of this direct insurance, beneficiaries cannot fall into the category of dependants, which the two benefits require. The minister said beneficiaries already have direct insurance, so they cannot use article 67 to reach the excluded benefits.

The allowance is subject to several conditions, including having no income of any kind, apart from some resources allowed by the rules. Executive decree no.

22-70 of 10 February 2022 lays down the conditions for access, the amount and the duties of beneficiaries.

Article 67 of Law 83-11 of 2 July 1983 on social insurance defines the categories of children who can be dependants. The criteria are mainly age, continued studies, apprenticeship and state of health.