In Bulgaria, however, only 2.1 percent of the population qualified for assistance, and in Estonia 2.7 percent. Only 3.7 percent of the households in Poland actually received some assistance. 6.3 percent of poor households and 2.1 percent of nonpoor received benefits. The probability of receiving assistance did decline with increasing welfare. In Hungary benefits reach 24.4 percent of households.
Programs are progressive - the likelihood of qualifying increases with decreasing welfare.
Amount of assistance was also very small and not very significant in household expenditure, except for the very poor. The amount of assistance is small and is not a very significant contributor to household incomes. 87 percent of the poor received no assistance. In Hungary, the best targeted social assistance closed 23.3 percent of the poverty gap, and almost 57 percent of the poor get no social assistance. Bulgaria closed about 4 percent of the poverty gap and 88 percent of the assistance leaked to the nonpoor.