‘Care Programme’: A step further to enhance women’s participation in labour market

In the context of social protection and enhancing female participation in the labour market, Jordan’s labour law has long safeguarded the right of working females to maternity leave allowance. However, several limitations hindered the implementation of this legally guarded benefit and the rightful disbursement of maternity allowance, including financial implications of these allowances on employers. Due to this legal obligation, employers were less inclined to hire females, particularly mothers, as paid maternity leave may impose a significant financial burden, which could be avoided if male workers were hired instead. Moreover, employers’ commitments to maternity allowances were not adequately met, to which the wrongful termination of mothers’ contracts just before giving birth were among the observed practices.

The maternity insurance introduced by the Social Security Corporation (SSC) in 2011, provides a solid ground to improve females’ access to the labour market and provides financial and consequently social protection for females by guaranteeing their full pay during maternity leave. Thus, bridging one of the main gaps that affect female participation in the Jordanian workforce. 

The insurance is based on the principle of equal treatment and solidarity with a moderate contribution rate of (0.75 per cent) of monthly wage, that is totally borne by employers on behalf of both, male and female.

Fortunately, the percentage of formal female workers has witnessed a slight increase over the past years, reaching 28 per cent out of the total SSC contributors, compared to 24 per cent in 2011, the time when maternity insurance was first introduced.

The successful implementation of this new insurance programme over the past years has encouraged the SSC to introduce additional measures to enhance women's participation in the labour market. One of which is related to the additional costs associated to childcare services after resuming work post childbirth. The cost of nurseries, as we all know, may drain a large part of the wages of a working mother and this may force her to make critical decisions, either leaving her job to take care of her child, or returning to work but bearing all the costs associated with childcare.

Amending the Social Security Law in 2019 and introducing a new provision to provide additional benefits related to maternity, constituted additional impetus to enhance women's participation and continuity in the labor market. The “Care Programme” is now providing every working woman covered by maternity insurance with a monthly progressive support ranging from 40 to 60 Jordanian Dinars for each newborn along 6 months to enable the child to get a suitable care at any accredited nursery. If the mother chooses to leave her child at home or with a relative, she can receive a monthly support of 25 Jordanian Dinars for the same period.

The SSC has also introduced a new programme to finance part of the operational costs of nurseries. The programme aims at ensuring the sustainability of the nursery sector, which faces difficult conditions exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as stimulating the expansion of the nurseries’ sector, which still has wide space to grow.

Gender gap in participation rates is a global phenomenon and narrowing it would require a set of measures at all levels. We do not claim that SSC’s measures will ensure high participation rates among females, but sure they will play an important role in doing so.

The scope, benefits and the way of delivering maternity insurance services at SSC, represents a unique model in the Arab World and even for western countries, and we are always ready to share the experience.

The writer is director general of the Social Security Corporation