Social welfare centres received 10,000 applications by women who want to receive lifetime allowances. The requests have been filed on a daily basis. Last year, labour minister Zorica Kovacevic said she expected up to 10,000 to apply for mothers’ allowance.
As she told CdM news portal, she is not surprised by these figures and expects more applications.
“When the law was proposed, during talks with parliamentary caucuses we presented the information that a large number of women would apply, although the promoter was saying that there would be about 5,000 applications. We expected a large number of applications and the latest data have not surprised us. We know that a number of women continue to collect documents for the submission of applications,” said Kovacevic.
As she added, a large number of women employed in education, health care and trade sectors are taking severance pay and apply for the allowance.
“Over 1,500 women filed a motion to waive pensions and apply for mothers’ allowance. These are probably people whose pensions are lower than the guaranteed allowance – ie. €193 or €330. All of this will represent a huge burden for the budget. We even believe that between €30m and €40m would be necessary for mothers’ allowances,” said Kovacevic.
Kovacevic said that it would be known how many women will receive the allowances and to which extent the budget will be burdened in late February when the first payments are to be delivered.
If there is a lack of money, a budget rebalance will likely to be done.
“We will see what the Ministry of Finance and the government would do – whether to opt for a rebalance or to find another solution for this situation,” Kovacevic said.
Although the ministry is concerned, Kovacevic said they were willing to transparently and fully implement the Law on Social and Child Protection.
“As for the neighbouring countries, we have the second highest benefits in the field of social and child protection after Croatia,” the minister concluded.
