Parents forced to stop going to work so as to care for their children while schools remain closed are set to receive their first payment of the "parent benefit".

A total of €105,000 is going to be paid out to the first batch of successful applicants. 

Announced last week in the wake of school closures in the new round of COVID-19 restrictions, the parent benefit runs from March 15 till April 11.

It is open to those with children aged 16 and under in private sector jobs who have had to take unpaid leave in order to stay at home with their children.

The scheme has also been extended to parents of children with severe disabilities aged 16 and over. These parents may have required unpaid time off to care for their children due to the closure of day centres and other facilities. 

In a press conference on Thursday, Family Minister Michael Falzon and permanent secretary Mark Musu announced that 934 people had applied for the benefit, with 418 applications assessed so far.

Of those assessed, 70 have been rejected, 270 will be receiving their first payment this week, while another 70 are awaiting authorisation. A further 70 applicants need to provide more information and 446 are waiting to start the claims process. 

About four in five of all applications processed have been accepted so far. 

The first payment, set to go out by the end of this week, will cost the government €105,000, with an additional €11,680 in social security payments, bringing the total cost to €116,800. 

The ministry projects that the cost of applications received will amount to about €320,000, with €32,000 more in social security payments.

“We have several goals we want to reach here, not only providing financial assistance to families but also peace of mind that families will not be hit by the loss of income and, looking to the future, will not suffer a gap in their social security contributions that could negatively affect their pensions down the line,” Falzon said.

“We also want to make sure that in the long term, people have an incentive to stay within the workforce, so that when the cloud of the pandemic passes, we can focus on economic recovery and get the wheels to start turning again.”

 

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