Protest against maternity benefit cuts planned outside parliament

A protest is planned outside the Armenian parliament today in connection with the amendments to the Law on Temporary Disability Allowances.

The National Assembly of Armenia will debate the bill today, with members of the initiative group also participating in the debates to present their position.

If the Armenian government-approved bill is passed, maternity benefits of working women will be reduced and an upper limit of maternity benefits will be established.

Members of the initiative opposed to amendments to the Law on Temporary Disability Allowances staged a protest outside the Armenian government a few days ago.

While welcoming the government’s idea to pay maternity benefits to nonworking women, the protesters say that such changes should not be made at the expense of working women. In their opinion, the bill violates several articles of the Constitution of Armenia and international norms. They are convinced that the amendments envisaged by the bill violate working women’s rights and the birth rate may decline in Armenia because of the new law.