Female workers hope to increase maternity allowance benefits
Most female workers want to increase their maternity benefits when giving birth.
Recently, in a submission to the Government on the development of the Population Law, the Ministry of Health proposed to increase maternity leave to 7 months for female workers with second children.
With this proposal, many female workers think that it is still not practical enough for them to have more children.
Ms. Nguyen Quynh Duong (29 years old) - a garment worker in Nam Dinh - said that if she is currently on maternity leave at home to raise children, with a subsidy of more than 4.2 million VND/month, it will be very difficult for her to manage.
"The average salary paid for insurance to calculate my maternity allowance is quite low, only over 4 million VND/month. If I had more children, with this income not enough to take care of them, after giving birth, I would be under even more economic pressure" - Ms. Duong said.
According to Ms. Duong, women after giving birth are often very sensitive. When economic worries are always painful, it makes the mentality of pregnant women even more severe, even depressed.
On average, Ms. Duong receives a maternity allowance of VND4.2 million/month, which is only enough to buy milk, diapers, and daily food for her child. The child was seriously ill and was hospitalized, if he did not have savings, he would have to borrow money.
Other living expenses or debts and family future plans must rely on the husband, making Ms. Duong even more afraid to have children.
The female worker hopes that maternity benefits will be calculated at 2/3 of the actual salary of the employee. If it cannot be determined, the minimum mark of 6 million VND/month should be used as the subsidy payment to help workers feel secure in taking care of their children.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy (26 years old) - a leather shoe worker - said that if she had now given birth on maternity leave, with an average allowance of 5.2 million VND/month, her family would have struggled and worried.
Ms. Thuy said that her husband is a freelancer with an unstable income. Currently, the family still has unpaid home construction debt and has to raise a child, so it is quite expensive.
I find raising a child more expensive than raising an adult. Tuition fees, food, milk... all want the best for their children. The whole family has to spend strictly to have enough money to raise a child" - Ms. Thuy said.
Remembering when giving birth to her first child 4 years ago, this female worker received a maternity allowance of 22 million VND/6 months. With the limited allowance, Ms. Thuy is even more hesitant to have children.
Ms. Thuy calculates the expenses for giving birth: preparing things before giving birth 2 million VND; giving birth and taking care of mother and child after giving birth 3 million VND (if giving birth usually with health insurance); milk, diapers, monthly feed 3.5 million VND.
"When I gave birth to my first child, I had to borrow money from relatives first, waiting for my husband to receive my salary before paying" - Ms. Thuy said.
Another concern shared by the female worker is that if the employee wants to receive maternity benefits, they must submit the application to the employer within 45 days after returning to work.
According to Ms. Thuy, the 6 months of raising children without support income made the family life even more difficult and difficult.
"When I have not paid off my debt, my income is unstable, and my maternity benefits are still low, I will not intend to have additional children. If maternity benefits are adjusted to increase than they are now, I will think about having more children" - Ms. Thuy shared.
According to current regulations, the monthly maternity benefit is equal to 100% of the average monthly salary for social insurance contributions of the 6 months before leaving work to enjoy the regime.
Ms. Thuy proposed increasing maternity benefits to 150% of the average salary for 6 months of social insurance contributions. At the same time, it is allowed for employees to submit application for maternity benefits right after giving birth to feel secure financially during their childcare leave.
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