The global economic crisis is forcing the governments of many countries to patch up holes in the state budget and seek out funds to replenish it. Unfortunately, this process primarily affects the wallet of ordinary citizens. This problem has not bypassed the Republic of Belarus. A parasitism tax has already been introduced here , and utility tariffs have been raised. And now on the agenda is the question of whether maternity leave will be reduced in Belarus.
Of course, this news caused a stormy reaction both among parents and among economists, because about 100 thousand 2-year-old children will have to be provided with nurseries and carers, which are currently sorely lacking. How real is this initiative and what will bring the reduction of maternity leave in Belarus to citizens?
Maternity leave in Europe
The Republic of Belarus is one of the few countries providing maternity leave for young mothers for 3 years. He has the same duration in Ukraine. But in neighboring Russia, mothers go to work after 1.5 years, or rather, after 3 years, but they will receive benefits only for the first one and a half years. These payments are calculated based on the salary for 2 years preceding the decree, so if a woman managed to work only a year, she will receive the allowance at the minimum rate.
But in other European countries the conditions for maternity are more favorable. Here you can often find a huge by our standards payment of 25,000 euros, as, for example, in Iceland. Another demographic paradise is Sweden, there is vacation for at least six months, but the mother will receive 80-100% of her salary.
A woman in Lithuania chooses how to decree - 1 year and get 90% of her salary, or 2 years and get 70% of her salary in the first year, 40% - in the second.
In the Soviet Union, there were no such privileges at all, after the birth of a child they went to work almost immediately or took a decree, but at their own expense. And only after 1981, the duration of the decree was increased to 1 year.
Decree in Belarus today
According to international studies, Belarus ranks 33rd out of 160 in the list of countries according to the most favorable conditions for motherhood, while in the CIS it still comes first. Maternity leave in Belarus consists of two parts:
- maternity leave that begins from 30 weeks of pregnancy (from 28 in the Chernobyl zone) and lasts 126 and 146 days, respectively;
- parental leave until the child reaches the age of three.
Benefit in Belarus
Payments for maternity leave in Belarus are made 4 times:
- The first payment, which is paid on the basis of the actual salary for 6 months, in other words, the average salary per day, multiplied by 126 or 146 days.
- The second payment is for the birth of a child. The first - 10 budgets of a living wage, the second and subsequent - 14.
- The third payment is one budget of a living wage for timely registration in the antenatal clinic (up to 12 weeks) and regular medical supervision.
- The fourth payment is a monthly allowance paid on a general basis, regardless of wages before the decree. It is 35% of the average salary in the country for 1 child, for 2 and more - 40%, for a disabled child - 45%.
Speaking in figures, for 2016 maternity leave in Belarus is paid monthly - 2 450 500 for one child, 2 800 500 for two or more, 3 150 600 for a disabled child. The lump sum allowance is 15,913,100 for the first child, 22,278,340 for the second and subsequent. Plus, for the registration, they pay extra 1,591,310.
Also in Belarus, monetary compensation is provided for the birth of twins, it amounts to 2 budgets for the subsistence minimum for 2016, or 3,182,620.
Reduction of the decree - the opinion “for”
Information has repeatedly been heard in the press that Belarus wants to reduce maternity leave. In January 2016, Presidential Aide Kirill Rudy took the initiative to reduce the period of maternity leave in Belarus to 2 years, arguing that in the current economic conditions this step will help to increase GDP growth by 2.3%.
The second “for” is the reduction of discrimination against women, which is currently very relevant in the labor market. Employers are frightened by the length of the decree, during which a woman may lose her professional skills, so women of childbearing age are reluctant to take jobs. This negatively affects the amount of labor, creates an obstacle to career and professional growth, and causes low salaries for women.
Another opinion “for” was expressed by Antonina Morozova, the former Minister of Labor and Social Security, arguing that recently there has been frequent work on maternity leave. Belarus is the only country that provides such a long sick leave for child care, but in reality more than 70% of women do not use it fully.
Decrease Decree - Cons
The information that maternity leave will be reduced in Belarus provoked a strong reaction both among young parents and among economic analysts.
According to psychologists, the formation of the child occurs the first three years, so it is best if he spends this time with his mother, and not in kindergarten. In addition, the first interaction with peers is often accompanied by frequent colds. Therefore, the mother will still have to sit with the baby, only on sick leave, and in the future this can affect the child’s health extremely negatively.
Are there places in kindergartens?
Analysts believe that reducing maternity leave in Belarus is impossible, because at the moment, even with a three-year decree, there is an acute shortage of places in nurseries and preschool groups, especially in large cities such as Minsk and Gomel. The reduction of parental leave should be accompanied by the creation of a large number of nurseries and kindergartens, as well as staffing with highly qualified nannies and carers.
What about unemployment?
Another minus to reducing the decree is the high unemployment rate today. Mom leaving the decree, if she did not have a place, it will be practically impossible to find a new job, especially when you consider that the first year of the garden she will have regular sick leave for the child. Therefore, three years of maternity leave are optimal in order to raise a child on his own for 2 years, and then give him to daycare and spend the year of adaptation not at work, but at home on maternity leave.
What is the result?
The situation is clearly ambiguous. On the one hand, the global financial crisis is forcing to seek effective solutions to optimize the budget and search for financing. It is almost impossible to do this other than revise social policies and benefits. Therefore, in crisis conditions, the wallet of ordinary citizens is the first to suffer.
The second point is the discrimination of young women of childbearing age in the labor market, who are reluctant to take jobs because of the long duration of maternity leave, during which it is necessary to keep a place for this employee. In addition, for such a long period, some professional skills may be lost that will have to catch up later, and this is absolutely unprofitable for the employer.
The other side of the problem suggests that at the moment the country’s infrastructure is not sufficiently developed to provide more than 10 thousand children across the country with them. So, to create them, more funds will be required than those that the state budget will receive if you reduce maternity leave in Belarus.
As for work, a woman will have to take sick leave for a child anyway, until he goes through full adaptation in kindergarten. However, this can cause irreparable harm to the baby in the future, and the employer is unlikely to like to regularly pay sick mothers.
To date, this initiative is only being considered, and according to the statement of the head of the gender policy department, in 2016 it will not be implemented yet.