Specifically, unmarried working women who are not insured and are not dependent on a spouse will be entitled to maternity benefits, paid after the child’s birth, for the entire duration of their maternity leave. This may be contingent on the child’s father confirming that he has the required length of insurance coverage.
Currently, under the law, only three categories of women are eligible for this benefit: insured women, unemployed women, and wives who are dependents of an insured spouse.
In other words, if the child’s parents are not married and the mother is not insured under the mandatory state social insurance system, she cannot receive maternity benefits, even if the child’s father has acknowledged paternity.
Discrimination Against Single Mothers
At the same time, according to the Public Services Agency, 19% of children in Moldova are born out of wedlock each year. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is promoting legislative amendments to eliminate this discriminatory practice that arises when maternity benefits are granted.
The amendments also stipulate that the benefit will be calculated based on the income of one of the child’s insured parents. In this case, the parent whose income results in a higher benefit amount will be taken into account.
If such a benefit was calculated based on the mother’s own income due to a lack of information about the child’s father, the benefit amount may be revised once that information becomes available in the National Social Insurance Fund’s (NSIF) database. Such a revision may be made no later than 12 months from the end of maternity leave.
