NWCI welcomes social insurance protection for childminders

Published: Sunday, February 19, 2006

The National Womens Council of Ireland (NWCI) welcomes the measure to include childminders within the Social Insurance system (PRSI), announced today, as part of the new Childminders Relief Measure. This measure will allow childminders to earn up to 10,000 and be exempt from paying tax.

Linking this scheme to social insurance is a positive signal that the Government is recognising the rights and entitlements of childminders, as afforded to other workers and will mean that childminders will have access to maternity benefit and full contributory pensions when they need it, stated Orla OConnor, Head of Policy at the NWCI.

This measure is critical in light of the many women who provide care work and are excluded from the social welfare system, continued Miss OConnor.

The NWCI is pleased that Minister Brennan has acknowledged the link between exclusion from the social welfare system and the high level of older womens poverty in Ireland (Currently, 45% of women, aged 65 years and older, are at risk of living in poverty).

The NWCI sees this measure as a positive step towards recognising care work within the social welfare system, which has been a key demand for the NWCIs Campaign for Social Welfare Reform, looking for reforms in the social welfare system to:

• credit unpaid care work
• ensure that older women receive retrospective credits to 1973, and
• recognise the unpaid work of spouses in family business by ensuring that they are included in the social insurance system through the family business.

The NWCI urges Minister Brennan to continue this approach and ensure that all of those involved in unpaid care work are entitled to social insurance credits concluded Ms OConnor.