Changes are being prepared for Lithuanian families: paid parental leave would be reduced for all mothers

In this way, the EU aims to involve men in parenting and reduce the long-term consequences of excluding women from the labor market. These changes must be implemented by the countries within three years, that is, by 2022. summer.

Lithuania is already preparing to restructure the child care and payment system. On Monday, the Ministry of Social Security and Labor (SADM) presented two possible options to change the arrangements for parental leave. These changes will undoubtedly affect all families, but so far parents seem to have more questions than answers.

There would be no possibility for the mother to care for the child for two years.

Under the current procedure, parents are granted 30 calendar days of paid paternity leave in Lithuania, this possibility will not disappear anywhere, it will remain. Under the new regime, parents will also have two additional months of parental leave, which they will not be able to pass on to their partners. Therefore, if a spouse decides not to take advantage of this opportunity, the total period of parental leave would be shortened.

Specialists have repeatedly noted that in the two years of child care benefits, the mother often takes care of the baby. The implementation of the new procedure, regardless of the model chosen, would shorten this period.

Under the first option proposed by the Ministry, the total paid child care would last two years (24 months), but the mother would receive benefits for the care of her offspring for only 22 months. She could take care of the baby until she was two or three years old, but she would no longer receive benefits. The father could take care of the child for another 2 months, during which time he would be paid.

In the second case, the total period of child care would be significantly shortened to just a year and a half or 18 months instead of the current two years. This means that the mother can take care of her offspring and receive benefits only until the child is one year and four months old, and the father can take care of the baby for two more months and the father can receive the benefit. If the husband decided not to, the family would only receive benefits for raising the child for 16 months.

Eglė Radišauskienė, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Social Affairs, also confirms that parental leave will be shortened for mothers, regardless of which way Lithuania decides.

“It is also important that Dad can use his months at other times, not necessarily in the last few months. And the mother would not be entitled to benefits during the period if she wanted to remain on parental leave, but she would be insured at the expense of the state and could take care of the child. child together with the father, thus solving the problem of nursing mothers.It is also important to mention that if he / she has a single father, then he / she will be able to care for the child during the 24 months (if the first option is chosen) or eighteen months (if the second option is chosen) “, – in the written answers provided by Delfi explains E. Radišauskienė.

Why, in general, is Lithuania considering significantly reducing the total period of paid parental leave (the second model, where it is proposed to leave only a year and a half), even though it has had one of the systems so far most parent-friendly in Europe? According to the Vice Minister, the current model and the benefits system program the difficulties that await women in the future, both in terms of employment and finances. The interlocutor also emphasized that this is only one of two proposals and that the public itself can choose the most attractive for itself.

“The second alternative is proposed, with payment of the benefit until the child is eighteen months old, to encourage women to return to the labor market as soon as possible. Although Lithuania probably has the longest parental leave, it also has its disadvantages: it is It is difficult for women to return to the labor market, loss of job skills and reduced social guarantees, especially in the future, it is difficult to reach high professional levels and the gender pay gap is widening … In addition, although the second option proposes a reduction in the benefit payment period, the amounts of the chosen benefits are such that the total amount of the benefit is equal to or even greater for the person compared to the twenty-four month scheme.The objective is to make the family lose the least possible income “Says E. Radišauskienė.

Parents imagine it differently

However, it seems that so far the options developed by the parenting ministry are a dark forest. They acknowledge that the changes currently being planned raise more questions than answers. Kęstutis Mikolajūnas, a member of the Lithuanian Parent Forum, says she has understood that families themselves will be able to choose one of the two most acceptable alternatives after admission.

“Now it will be possible to have part of the job during the first year and not lose that support. As I understand it, it was one or two years, because most of them chose two years, now there are 18 or 24 months left,” said the interlocutor.

Meanwhile, Laura Tarozienė, a member of the Western Lithuanian Parent Forum, interpreted it differently: one of the two options will be chosen and will apply to all parents.

According to E. Radišauskienė, the choice of which model to choose after the adoption of the new procedure may actually disappear. The Ministry has not yet reached a final decision on how to proceed.

“It is planned to choose one of them. However, the minister told reporters on Monday after the press conference that a decision will be made after the public debate, perhaps both will be discussed, public opinion will be examined, but the idea initial is to have only one ”, explained E. Radišauskienė.

For his part, L. Tarozienė stated that the use of two non-transferable months also raises questions: will Dad have to take them immediately after his mother or will he be able to postpone them until the end of the period?

“It is not clear how parents should plan their income. When he goes on vacation for 12 or 24 months, he knows that he will receive income during this period. According to the proposed new agreement, it turns out that one of the parents is unemployed for two months and not receive no benefit Not all families can afford to be completely free of income for two months, although that one salary remains, which again is not one hundred percent.

If it is not possible to care for the child immediately, when the mother takes that leave and at the end of the period, say 22 months, the mother returns to work and works without interruption. This new proposal is also questionable from the point of view of the labor market, because a mother who returns to work for two months, we agree, will not improve much, because the employer will not want to invest in an employee who has returned and will leave again. . Or, in the end, there is a double cost to help the ex-mother instead of the mother ”, the interlocutor shared his doubts.

E. Radišauskienė ensures that regardless of the model chosen, parents will be able to decide for themselves when to use their months.

“It will be possible to use it at any time for up to 24 months, or 18 months, depending on the alternative that society chooses,” says the deputy minister.

There would be no possibility to choose the payment period, the amounts would change

So far, more families have been able to choose how long to care for their child and how many benefits to receive. During the parental leave year, 77.58 percent is paid all the time. in the role assignment. PSD and GPM taxes have not yet been paid on the benefit received. If the mother is still working during this period, the benefit is reduced.

If you choose to care for a child for two years, the child care benefit for the first year amounts to 54.31 percent. of the salary “on paper”, in the second – 31.03%, of the previous amounts the aforementioned taxes are also paid.

If the ministry finally decided to choose one of the two options offered, parents could no longer choose how long they want to receive the benefit.

“The benefit would be paid to everyone for the same period. The Minister mentioned that unless the public and experts decide that both alternatives are equally good, then that option would be considered.

It was decided that people could choose only one benefit period because it was observed that the majority now choose to receive the benefit until the child is two years old, and only a very small part (1,200 people) choose to care for the child until they are one year old. “., – such decision was explained by E. Radišauskienė.

The proposed models would also change the amount of benefits. If it were decided that parental leave would be paid for two years, 78 percent. the paper salary would be paid for 4 months, another 6 months. 45%, and only 25% for the second year of child care. In other words, the benefits would be slightly higher in the first year and slightly less in the second year than before.

According to the second model, where the maximum period of paid parental leave is one and a half years, two months for the mother and two months for the father would receive 78% and another 14 months. 60 percent.

‘In order to apply the Directive, the objective was to review the payment periods. The directive establishes months of non-transferable child care for parents. It would be possible not to change anything fundamentally by providing only non-transferable months (leave the amount as it is, depending on when you choose to use those 2 months; then dad would receive 54, 31% or 31.03% benefits), but in that case it will be slow take care of the children, since the benefits will not be high, in which case the directive would deprive the family of two mandatory months of paternity, which would reduce the benefit. That is why we offer to pay 78% in non-transferable months. A little over 100% profit. previous net earnings, thus encouraging parents to take advantage of their mandatory months. A corresponding increase in the payment of the mandatory months required a review of the benefit amounts for the following months. Therefore, it was decided to adjust the system.

It should be noted that the Directive does not provide for the payment of 100% of the previous salary, but stipulates that the amount of the benefit must be chosen to encourage parents to use child care, “explains E. Radišauskienė.

Parents who do not live together can also take advantage of two months

When asked how they evaluated the proposed payment arrangements, the parent representatives assured that families could earn a little throughout the period. It is true that the interlocutors agreed that in the first case, if it was decided to choose 24 months. model, the second year would be more difficult financially.

L. Tarozienė also raised the question of what will happen to the families living in the department.

“Those two months are mandatory to pick up the father when the father is there.” There are cases in which this procedure does not apply if there is no parent. Again, there are many young mothers whose fathers are not together, live in a room, and there are fathers who, for example, are not very apt to be called fathers.

Then, the mother will have all kinds of additional matters until she is established to be able to receive that benefit on her own. The expected cases are when the father is found dead, it is not known where, the authority of one of the parents is limited by a judicial decision. A mother who lives in an apartment far from her father will have to take care of herself to demonstrate that that father is not there. It means time and if you fail to recover, you will lose the benefit, no one will return it to you in retrospect ”, the interviewee predicted the difficulties.

That even in the cases where the parents live in the apartment, a mother cannot use the entire paid period of 24 or 18 months, also confirmed E. Radišauskienė.

“This issue has been raised and discussed in the European Commission, but the European Commission’s opinion was that, unless there is parental authority or other objective reasons why a parent cannot care for the child, the parent and A mother should not be deprived of both rights. So even when she lived in a room, Dad could take advantage of her months, and a mother could also take advantage of the months of caring for her children, “she said.

Vote for the most preferred parental leave model and send your proposals to the residents of the Ministry of Social Affairs before July 15.