AMMAN — The number of working mothers who
received a maternity insurance allowance in 2021 increased slightly, reaching
10,988 from 10,501 in 2020, according to the
Social Security Corporation’s
annual report.
اضافة اعلان
According to the report, which was carried by
Al-Ghad News, 89,528 women workers have benefited from maternity insurance
since it was introduced.
Meanwhile, experts welcomed a proposed amendment to
the Social Security Law that would give pregnant workers the right to receive a
maternity leave allowance if they had worked at a company for at least eight
months before becoming pregnant.
In its current
version, the law stipulates that the insured person shall benefit from
maternity insurance in accordance with the periods specified in the
Labor Law,
provided that they were covered by the provisions of this insurance for six
months preceding their maternity leave.
According to the experts, cases have occurred in
which maternity insurance could not be utilized because beneficiaries did not
work during the six months preceding childbirth. If the amendment is passed,
workers will be given greater protection.
Private sector maternity leave
A gender expert from the
International Labor Organization (ILO), Reem Aslan, stressed the importance of
increasing the minimum duration of maternity leave in the private sector to 90
days.
This increase, she said, would align the private
sector with the ILO’s Convention on Maternity Protection.
Aslan noted that the majority of countries evaluated
in a recent ILO survey provide monetary benefits through national security
mechanisms. In developed economies, these benefits are increased through social
security systems. In the Middle East, insurance rates for maternity leave
benefits are the lowest globally.
Jordan is among a minority of Arab states that provide
maternity benefits through the social security system, she said. In most
Arab countries, employers are directly responsible for maternity leave.
Read more National news
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
