The current model of financing lehonia permit in Kosovo is creating inequality in the labour market, while greater involvement in the state’s coverage of costs and expanding the rights of fathers for paid break.
So said at the discussion table organised by the Riinvest Institute and the Economic Forum of Women ( FEG, with the theme Review of the family’s responsible gender policies in Kosovo: Financial applications, regional practices and policy alternatives.
The co-ordinator of the Women’s Economic Forum, Sajidije Mustafa, said Kosovo continues to have the lowest participation of women in the labour market in Europe. According to her, the way to finance lehonia permit and limited rights for fathers have created inequalities that require solutions.
She stressed that the financial burden of leukemia should not negatively affect women’s employment and professional advancement, while demanding the government’s greater role in creating a sustainable funding system.
Our commitment for a decade is based on evidence and today we witness the lowest participation in the women’s labour market in Europe. Kosovo has a system that envisions 12 months of permission of leukemia, but its way of financing it and limited rights for fathers have created inequalities that require attention and solutions. First, a parent should not penalise women economically. The cost of leukemia should not jeopardise employment through discriminatory forms, professional advancement or the economic independence of women. Caring for children is the responsibility of both parents, the paid firing of fatherhood, and parental rest are concrete mechanisms for the equal share of responsibility within the family and for real equality in the labour market. The government must take on a stronger role in establishing a stable and fair funding system in co-operation with employer and employer, Mustafa said.
Meanwhile, Labour, Family and Freedom War Values Minister Andy Hoti acknowledged that the current model has challenges and that reasonable requirements exist for its improvement.
It’s also clear that the current model exists has its challenges. And there are also the reasonable demands that some of them were mentioned for their improvement, so clear is that any change in this field has a direct effect on families, employers, and public finances. Therefore, I consider such discussions necessary to better understand the real options and possibilities for building a just affordable model, Hoti said.
On the other hand, the head of the UNFPA Office in Kosovo, Visar Mujko-Niman, said family policies should be treated as an investment in the welfare of households, gender equality and economic development.
She raised concern about the financial burden that falls on employers during the first six months of lehonia permit, while stressing that fathers have only three days’ pay off after giving birth. According to her, this situation affects women’s employment opportunities and reinforces traditional family responsibilities.
In Kosovo management and financing of lehonia rest, fathers’ rest, and parental rest continue to have considerable inequality and challenges. The current system mainly burdens the employer with financial burdens for the first six months of the lehonia break, while fathers take only three days off after birth. This creates a visible inequality, she said. /Kp/
