The National Social Security Institute (NSSI) has managed to spare 10 million BGN (5 M Euro) for the first 5 months of the year. Unfortunately this has happened on the back of employers and young mothers. Women on maternity leave have received a monthly average of 50 leva less than the same time last year. This is a direct result of earlier announced measures by the NSSI to control misuse of social money.
The main reason for maternity money decrease is the new 2011 regulation according to which compensations are to be calculated over each woman’s income for the previous 18, and not 12 months as it used to be. The increase aimed at preventing the cases of women who start paying higher social insurance when they find out they are pregnant.
Mother organisations have argued that changes in regulation will have a negative effect mostly on women who have started working in less than 18 months before their pregnancy. These are mostly young mothers who have not managed to find a job immediately after graduating school or university.
Photo: sxc.hu/barunpatro
