Kazakhstan's welfare system makes it mathematically pointless for people with mental health issues to ever get a job.
March 19, 2026
Original Paper
The "Silent Tax" of the Semashko Legacy
SSRN · 6307887
The Takeaway
Because disability pensions are higher than the national minimum wage, the 'effective tax' on working is over 100%. This institutional design trap forces stable patients to remain unemployed and isolated just to avoid losing their net income.
From the abstract
This brief demonstrates that the exclusion of individuals with psychiatric conditions from Kazakhstan's labor market is driven by flawed institutional design, not clinical limitations. Our analysis reveals a severe 'welfare trap' embedded in the state's social protection system. With a guaranteed disability pension of 89,498 KZT and a national minimum wage of 85,000 KZT, the Effective Marginal Tax Rate (EMTR) strictly exceeds 100%.Transitioning to formal employment mathematically guarantees a lo