The global economic crisis is forcinggovernments of many countries to patch holes in the state budget and to seek funds for its replenishment. Unfortunately, this process is primarily a painful effect on the wallet of ordinary citizens. This problem has not bypassed the Republic of Belarus. It has already introduced a tax on parasitism, increased utility rates. And now on the agenda the question of whether to reduce maternity leave in Belarus.
Of course, this news caused a violent reaction asamong parents and economists, after all, about 100 thousand 2-year-old children will have to be provided with nurseries and tutors, which are currently sorely lacking. How realistic is this initiative and what will the citizens get to reduce maternity leave in Belarus?
Maternity leave in Europe
The Republic of Belarus is one of the few countriesproviding young mothers maternity leave of 3 years. The same duration it is in Ukraine. But in neighboring Russia, mothers go to work after 1.5 years, more precisely, they can even after 3, but they will receive benefits only for the first one and a half years. These payments are calculated on the basis of the salary for the 2 years preceding the decree, so if a woman managed to work only a year, she would receive an allowance at the minimum rate.
But in other European countries, the conditions formaternity more favorable. Here you can often find a huge payment of 25,000 euros by our standards, such as in Iceland. Another demographic paradise is Sweden, where the leave is half a year, but the mother will receive 80-100% of her salary.
A woman in Lithuania chooses how to carry out a 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 suchprivileges, after the birth of a child, they went out to work almost immediately or took a decree, but at their own expense. And only after 1981, the duration of the decree increased to 1 year.
Decree in Belarus today
По данным международных исследований, Беларусь It ranks 33rd out of 160 in the list of countries for the most favorable conditions for motherhood, and in the CIS it is still in the first place. Maternity leave in Belarus consists of two parts:
- maternity leave, which starts at 30 weeks gestation (from 28 in the Chernobyl nuclear zone) and lasts 126 and 146 days, respectively;
- parental leave until the age of three.
Allowance in Belarus
Payments for maternity leave in Belarus are made 4 times:
- The first payment, which is paid based on 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 the subsistence minimum, the second and subsequent - 14.
- The third payment is one subsistence minimum budget for timely registration in the antenatal clinic (up to 12 weeks) and regular monitoring by a doctor.
- The fourth payout is a monthly benefit.paid on a general basis, regardless of wages prior to the decree. It makes up 35% of the average salary in the country for 1 child, for 2 or more - 40%, for a disabled child - 45%.
Speaking in numbers, then for 2016 maternityvacation 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 children. Plus for registration, extra pay 1 591 310.
Also in Belarus there is a monetary compensation for the birth of twins, it is for 2016 2 of the budget of the subsistence minimum, or 3 182 620.
Decree reduction - opinion “for”
In the press more than once there was information thatBelarus want 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 increase GDP growth by 2.3%.
The second pro is to reduce discrimination againsttowards women, which is currently very important in the labor market. Employers are frightened by the length of the decree, during which a woman may lose her professional skills, therefore, women of the childbearing age of childbearing age are reluctant to hire. This adversely affects the amount of labor, creates an obstacle to career and professional growth, causes a low level of wages for women.
Another opinion “for” was expressed by Antonina Morozova,former Minister of Labor and Social Security, arguing that recently work on maternity leave has been common. Belarus is the only country that provides such a long hospital care for a child, but in reality more than 70% of women do not use it fully.
Decree reduction - opinion “against”
The information that maternity leave will be reduced in Belarus has provoked a strong reaction both among young parents and among economic analysts.
According to psychologists, the formation of a childIt takes the first three years, so it's 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 this time at the hospital, and this can have an extremely negative effect on the health of the child in the future.
Are there places in the gardens?
Analysts believe that reduce maternity leavein Belarus is impossible, because at the moment, even with a three-year decree, there is an acute shortage of places in nursery and pre-school groups, especially in large cities such as Minsk and Gomel. The reduction of parental leave must be accompanied by the creation of a large number of nurseries and kindergartens, as well as the staffing of highly skilled nannies and tutors.
And what about unemployment?
Another minus of decree reduction is highunemployment rate today. When Mommy leaves the decree, if there is no place left for her, it will be almost impossible to find a new job, especially if you consider that she will have regular sick leave for her child during the first year of the garden. Therefore, three years of the decree are optimal in order to raise the child for 2 years independently, and then give it to the nursery and spend a year of adaptation not at work, but at home on maternity leave.
What in the end?
Ситуация явно неоднозначна.On the one hand, the global financial crisis is forcing to seek effective solutions to optimize the budget and search for funding. To do this in a different way than to revise social policies and payments is almost impossible. Therefore, in times of crisis, the purse of ordinary citizens suffers in the first place.
The second point is discrimination against young women.of childbearing age in the labor market, who are reluctant to hire because of the high duration of maternity leave, during which time it is necessary to keep a job for this worker. In addition, for such a long period, some professional skills may be lost, which will have to be made up later, and this is absolutely unprofitable for the employer.
The other side of the problem suggests thatPresently, the infrastructure of preschool institutions is insufficiently developed in the country to provide them with more than 10 thousand children throughout the country. So, they will require more funds for their creation than those that the state budget will receive if you reduce maternity leave in Belarus.
As for work, a woman will not caretake sick leave for a child until he passes the full adaptation in kindergarten. However, this may cause irreparable harm to the baby in the future, and the employer is unlikely to enjoy paying the hospital moms regularly.
To date, this initiative is only being considered, and according to the head of the gender policy department, in 2016, it will not be implemented yet.
