A new round of Covid-19 benefits has been announced for parents who have been forced to stop their private sector jobs to take care of their children in view of the COVID-19 restrictions.
The government on Tuesday said the new scheme that will run from March 15 till April 11.
The measures come in response to a month-long closure of schools and other services in response to a spike in Covid-19 cases.
The scheme is targeted towards parents in the private sector who do not have the option of teleworking.
Full-time workers with children under the age of 16 can benefit from aid of €166.15 per week and part-time workers are eligible for aid of €103.85 per week.
The payments are net of the social security contribution, meaning pensions will not be impacted.
Parents need to be out on unpaid leave to benefit from the scheme. Workers whose employers are receiving a wage supplement do not qualify for the scheme.
In order to qualify, the nature of their work must preclude the parent from being able to work from home.
For couples who are both unable to work from home, one parent will be able to benefit from the scheme.
Online applications for the scheme can be found on socialsecurity.com.mt and familja.gov.mt.
Government workers are being encouraged to work from home, and frontliners are being offered childcare facilities.
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said the scheme had been launched to help those who do not have the option of teleworking.
Last year, around 4,500 people benefited from a similar scheme at a cost of €3 million.
Caruana said the pace of Malta’s economic recovery was dependent on its vaccination rates, which would permit the lifting of restrictions once a majority of the population has been inoculated.
He said his ministry was given the health authorities all the necessary resources to hit the target of vaccinating a large chunk of the population by May/June.
Family Minister Michael Falzon said it was no secret that the pandemic had taken its toll on the entire country. He said the aid given by Malta throughout the pandemic was the most generous in Europe.