Maternity benefit increase: Thank you, but…

The increase in Social Security Commission (SSC) maternity benefits has been welcomed by some, but mothers and fathers say the adjustment should be accompanied by broader changes to maternity leave and family support.

Justice minister Wise Immanuel announced on Tuesday that the SSC maternity benefit will increase from N$15 000 to N$20 000, effective 1 October. Employees earning less than N$20 000 would receive their actual salary amount, while those earning above N$20 000 would be capped at N$20 000.

Reacting to the announcement, Petrina Shitalangaho-Mutikisha, a mother of twins, said the discussion should go beyond the amount paid to mothers and focus on the length of maternity leave.

“Three months and two weeks is simply not enough time to recover from childbirth, establish breastfeeding, care for a newborn and prepare emotionally and physically to return to work,” she said.

Shitalangaho-Mutikisha called for maternity leave to be extended to at least six months for mothers of single babies and to 10 to 12 months for mothers of twins or multiples.

She said caring for twins comes with additional demands, including feeding, sleepless nights, medical appointments and constant attention.

“I speak from experience. I was there. I am a twin mother, and I know exactly how it feels,” she said.

Shitalangaho-Mutikisha said her twin daughters refused to take bottles, including expressed breast milk, and preferred to breastfeed directly, making a return to work particularly challenging.

She also questioned whether workplaces have adequate facilities for breastfeeding and expressing milk.

Shitalangaho-Mutikisha argued that maternity policies should take into account the realities of motherhood, including recovery, breastfeeding, bonding and childcare.

“Motherhood is not a three-month project. And raising twins certainly isn’t,” she said.

Think of the dads

Meanwhile, former parliamentarian Hidipo Hamata said fathers should also receive financial support.

“Men should also be receiving N$5 000, considering that they support their pregnant wives,” Hamata said.

He described the increase as a progressive government initiative and said the matter had been advocated for by the seventh parliament, which he was part of.

However, speaking in the National Assembly yesterday, Immanuel said men are still excluded from specific paternity benefits because Namibia does not yet have legislation providing for statutory paternity leave.

“We do not have a category for paternity benefits,” Immanuel said.

The minister said employers who provide paternity leave currently do so under their own industrial policies, while there is also no International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention compelling member states to introduce or legislate for paternity leave.

Stressed on maternity

A government schoolteacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the increased SSC benefit does not adequately address the financial pressure faced by teachers during maternity leave.

“As a teacher, it does not help at all. The government stops the salary for three full months, and you need to do your monthly payments with that peanuts from SSC,” the teacher said.

The teacher described maternity leave as stressful, particularly for teachers who give birth during school holidays.

“Teachers, especially those who give birth during the holidays, spend that little time with their newly born baby for those two or three weeks. Then when school reopens, you go back to work to avoid maternity leave,” the teacher said.

The teacher said the situation highlights concerns about whether current maternity provisions adequately support women in the teaching profession.

Under the new structure announced by Immanuel, sick leave benefits for the first 12 months will increase from N$11 250 to N$15 000, while payments for the following 12 months will rise from N$9 750 to N$13 000.