The Libyan population has two types of social security: citizens are protected both by largely-intact family relationships or membership in a tribe, as well as by an extensive social security net and subsidy policy that, despite forced cutbacks, has remained a high priority for the revolutionary regime since 1969.

 

Free education, nearly-free healthcare, health insurance, social security, and subsidies for basic foodstuffs and fuel are part of the government’s welfare policy, and every Libyan citizen has access to these benefits. According to the UN definition, poverty does not exist in the country: no Libyan must subsist on less than 1 dollar per day.

 

Equal opportunity in education is offered by the welfare state, and more than 50% of students in some courses of study are women, even though family relations can restrict women’s access to the job market and traditional social behavior and values result in gender-based discrimination. This is less true in the political sphere, where the revolutionary leadership has strongly supported women’s participation.

 

Due to an increased emphasis on securing future stability and the standard-of-living for the long-term, the Libyan welfare system announced in November of 2004 its first-ever cuts in subsidies – some $5 billion annually. Affected are, among other things, subsidies for cooking oil, flour, rice, sugar and tea, gasoline and electricity. At the same time, the minimum wage is set to increase from 150 dinars (91 euros) to 300 dinars in 2005 and tax reductions are to be introduced. As a result, every Libyan household should be better-off than prior to the start of the reform process.