Translated material
According to children's calculations
The Social Insurance Fund is preparing to pay benefits to unemployed mothers
The flood of information that bombarded Russian women last year about increasing maternity and child care benefits seems to have completely disoriented women. In January, when numerous amendments regarding changes in the system of material support for mothers came into force, the Social Insurance Fund noted a decrease in the number of applications . Realizing that an urgent educational program was required, last Friday the head of the fund, Galina Karelova, tried to explain herself what amounts women who wish to give birth to a child and young parents are entitled to.There are no innovations with maternity benefits yet - it is only available to working women. Depending on the length of service, the amount of compensation can be up to 100% of your monthly earnings, but not more than the “ceiling” established by law of 16,125 rubles . This norm, however, is now being challenged in the Constitutional Court, which should soon render a verdict on the fairness of such a restriction. Before giving birth, both those who work and those who do not can receive birth certificates (from the new year their cost is 10 thousand rubles). This money is distributed between the consultation, the maternity hospital and the children's clinic, where the child will be observed in the first year of life. At the birth of a child, everyone receives a one-time benefit of 8,000 rubles starting from the new year. But then the most difficult part begins - calculating child care payments.
Until the child turns one and a half years old, the mother receives a monthly allowance. Since the new year, a, one might say, revolutionary norm has come into effect - even unemployed women began to receive child care benefits. Mothers uninsured by social insurance and those who lost their jobs during pregnancy due to the liquidation of an enterprise are entitled to 1,500 rubles. per month for caring for the first child and 3,000 per month for each subsequent one. A working mother has the right to a monthly benefit in the amount of 40% of her average earnings, but not more than 6,000 rubles. Moreover, seventeen- to eighteen-year-old girls, and now, according to the Federal Social Insurance Fund, at this age they are giving birth in full, should consider what is more profitable: taking parental leave for themselves or, say, for a working grandmother with a salary of up to 14 thousand rubles. After all, young mothers, as a rule, do not have any work experience, and the grandmother, in the case of guardianship, will receive the maximum allowance.
It is worth noting that if a woman is not strapped for money and is in no hurry to receive money for care, then she retains the right to apply for benefits for two years after the birth of the child. At any time, the benefit will be accrued for the entire “insurance” period in full and paid in a lump sum. “In any case, if the money doesn’t run out at the Social Insurance Fund office,” joked Galina Karelova. It is noteworthy that mothers who gave birth last year can also apply “retroactively”, however, benefits will be accrued to unemployed women only from January 1, 2007.
While Russian women are still figuring out how much they are entitled to, the FSS is already transferring money to those who applied for benefits. In January, 521 thousand working and 92 thousand non-working women received care benefits. In February, these numbers should increase significantly - up to 400 thousand are expected to be unemployed monthly. But Galina Karelova believes that there is no reason to talk about overexpenditure or shortage of funds.