PRESS RELEASE
Athens, April 25, 2024
P. Tsakloglou: In total, the allowances for the support of the new working mother exceed 10,000 euros
The Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security, Panos Tsakloglou, spoke on Parapolitika FM 90.1 and on the show “On the air” with Niki Lymperakis about the maternity allowance, retirement limits, TEKA and the six-day work.
For the maternity allowance
As Mr. Tsakloglou pointed out, the total amount of allowances, birth, pregnancy and delivery and, above all, maternity, exceeds 10,000 euros. Our policy seeks to reconcile family and professional life in order to help young couples have the number of children they desire and to encourage women to participate in the labor market.
In this context, in the previous four years we increased the duration of the provision of maternity allowance to private sector employees from six to nine months. In these months, every woman in this category is provided with the minimum wage. We have now extended the provision of the allowance to freelancers, self-employed women and farmers.
No cut in pensions for mothers with minors
When asked by a listener why pensions were cut for mothers with minors, the Deputy Minister was categorically negative, denying such cuts.
No such cut has been made. If we talk about previous years and early retirements for women with minors, in this area Greece was probably the exception in the whole world and the measure essentially did anything but help the development of women in high professional ranks.
What stage is TEKA at today and why was a solar registration limit set?
The number of TEKA insured persons, employers and funds under management is constantly increasing. At the same time, the Fund’s campaign is currently running for people who were under 35 years old when TEKA was founded and who are now in EFKA and wish to transfer to it.
The reason the age limit was set is as follows. The returns of capitalized pension systems are much better than those of distributive ones, but they also have greater fluctuations. What we did not want was to set the age limit at such a height that a series of financial crises would lead to low yields and the public would be led to pay the stipulated guarantee.
Is there a case for generalizing the six-day work measure?
There is categorically no question of extending or generalizing the six-day work measure. It concerns certain businesses, mainly continuous flow, which in exceptional cases may have a greater need for employment and a sixth day a week in certain periods and of course the application of the measure will be strictly controlled .
Will the retirement thresholds change?
As Mr. Tsakloglou pointed out, according to our legislation, the life expectancy at the age of 65 is examined every three years and any adjustments to the retirement limits are made accordingly. The corresponding examination was done last year and we found that in the corresponding reference period there was no increase, so until 2027 categorically there will be no change in the retirement limits.
What will happen to the people who will be out of a job due to artificial intelligence?
Too many of the programs that DYPA currently has, as well as resources that we have available through the NSRF or the Recovery Fund, which are proactively directed to the respective fields, that is, to the training or retraining of workers who may lose their jobs precisely because of the change in technology.
