The proposal to legalize part-time employment was seen as an attempt to stimulate the birth rate

“A mother should not be afraid of being fired”

The head of the Ministry of Labor Anton Kotyakov proposed to legislate the concept of “partial employment”. According to him, this will allow parents of children up to a year and a half to earn extra money and at the same time receive childcare benefits. A number of experts see this initiative as an attempt by the state to stimulate an increase in the birth rate.

As Kotyakov recalled, there are several social support measures in Russia related to compensation for earnings lost for one reason or another. However, in situations where someone in the family is caring for a disabled person or a child, this possibility is not enshrined in the law. According to the head of the Ministry of Labor, the new measure will eliminate the legal vacuum: “Then we will be able to prescribe in those acts that determine the basis for the payment of social benefits that part-time employment is possible for this category of workers.”

The Minister spoke about the increasing number of court cases, during which mothers are trying to prove that they have the right to combine part-time work with the performance of the functions of a parent to care for a child. Such cases are mostly decided in favor of the woman, depending on how much time she devotes to work. “Our labor market is now being transformed, it becomes possible to work remotely. Now, if a mother formalizes her employment relationship officially, she loses the right to receive social benefits, ”added Kotyakov.

With a high degree of probability, the measure is designed to stimulate the birth rate, says Alexei Zubets, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. If the income of a family with one child falls to the subsistence level or below, it does not even think about acquiring a new one, fearing that it will finally fall into poverty. Accordingly, the expert argues, parents (primarily mothers) should be given the legislative opportunity to earn something extra. A woman should not be afraid that in the event of a replenishment in the family and an urgent need to sit with a child (who is also constantly sick), the employer will fire her. So the initiative of the Ministry of Labor is narrowly focused and absolutely justified.

“It’s definitely a good thing. The main thing is that many people will have the opportunity to work part-time and at the same time not lose social benefits, – says Sergey Smirnov, a leading researcher at IMEMO RAS. “In addition, the state will not have to make any additional budget expenditures: benefits will be paid in the same amount.”