The Ministry of Labor called the cost of the presidential measure to maintain child benefits for working mothers

The Ministry of Labor has prepared amendments that allow saving insurance payments for child care up to 1.5 years for mothers who have come to work ahead of schedule. Draft amendments to the laws “On state benefits to citizens with children” and “On compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with motherhood” are posted on the portal of regulatory legal acts for public discussion. The rule is expected to come into force on January 1, 2024.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued such an instruction during SPIEF-2023. The head of state proposed to pay a child allowance up to a year and a half and a single child allowance for the entire period of their validity, regardless of whether the family income has increased or not.

Under the current rules, the benefit is only available to the non-working or part-time parent. It is paid from the Social Fund, and its size directly depends on the mother’s salary (40% of the average salary, but not less than 8,591 rubles and not more than 33,282 rubles). According to the bill, now the right to benefits will remain for those who went to work early from the decree.

In 2022, 1.6 million people received a monthly child care allowance, of which 142,465 people (8.4%) worked part-time, according to a press release from the ministry.

Additional expenses of the Social Fund budget for innovations will amount to 4.8 billion rubles. over three years: in 2024 – 1.4 billion rubles, in 2025 – 1.6 billion rubles, in 2026 – 1.8 billion rubles. The calculations are given in a package of documents published on regulation.gov.ru.

The allowance for caring for a child up to one and a half years is an insurance payment, the amount of which depends on the mother’s salary for the two years preceding the year of the birth of the child, said the head of the department, Anton Kotyakov (his words are reported by the press service). The amendments will allow parents to keep such payments even if the person who took parental leave returned to full-time work ahead of schedule. In addition, during the period of the decree, it will be possible to find a job with other employers, the minister added. The guarantees associated with maintaining the workplace with the previous employer will remain unchanged.

In total, taking into account the changes, these measures can cover about 18-19 million children, says Vice-Rector of the Financial University Alexander Safonov. He considered the innovation itself a positive factor. While caring for a child, a woman loses certain positions in the labor market, and even if she goes to work early, she has to start from a lower start, he explained. In addition, a son or daughter is a significant expense, so the family simply needs monetary compensation.