THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR MATERNITY LEAVE OF SELF EMPLOYED PERSONS (REGELING ZELFSTANDIG EN ZWANGER, ZEZ, NETHERLANDS
WOMEN
The Financial Support for Maternity Leave of Self Employed Persons (Regeling Zelfstandig en Zwanger, ZEZ), came into effect on June 4, 2008. The regulation entitles self-employed women to a pregnancy and maternity-leave allowance, allowing them to temporarily stop or reduce their work before childbirth, and gradually resume their work after the birth.
The ZEZ is a reintroduction of a previous regulation that had been abolished in 2004 under the Self-Employed Persons Invalidity Insurance Act (WAZ). After the elimination of the WAZ, self-employed women had the option of insuring their income loss because of pregnancy and childbirth or bearing the financial repercussions themselves. However, insurance for loss of income as a result of pregnancy and childbirth was only available as an add-on to a private disability insurance policy. Moreover, many insurers enforced a waiting period of two years. As a result, some self-employed women experienced a lack of income during their maternity leave. To address this issue, the government reintroduced the ZEZ.
The ZEZ-benefit provides a pregnancy and maternity-leave benefit to self-employed women, defined as independent workers with no employees. A self-employed woman is entitled to a pregnancy and maternity allowance for a total of 16 weeks. The right to benefit starts between six weeks and no later than four weeks before the scheduled date of delivery. The benefit covers at least ten weeks after the child is born. If the birth occurs after the due date, the total payment can be more than 16 weeks. In the case of twins or multiples, the maternity leave starts earlier and the ZEZ-benefit lasts at least 20 weeks. This scheme (including the flexibility option) is identical to the scheme applicable to employees.
The benefit is based on the profit of the self-employed person in the previous financial year and is capped at 100% of the statutory minimum wage (WML). If the self-employed person concerned worked an average of 1 225 hours in the previous year (the criterion under the Income Tax Act to be considered self-employed), it is assumed that the profit was at least the minimum wage. In that case, the benefit is set at 100% of the WML (EUR 1 615 in 2020). If the self-employed worked less than 1 225 hours, the benefit is determined in proportion to the profit made in that year.
Self-employed women can apply for ZEZ benefit from the moment they are 24 weeks pregnant or no later than 2 weeks before the start date of the maternity leave. The application process is done online. Women who were entitled to a ZEZ-benefit, but did not apply initially, can still apply for the benefit for up to a year after birth, however, the amount granted may be lower. A wide information campaign accompanied the launch of the benefit to make sure potential recipients were aware of the scheme. The campaign was done online through government and interest groups website as well as through a brochure distributed through Chambers of Commerce and self-employed workers organisations).
The ZEZ benefit was evaluated in 2012, using a sample of 2 000 self-employed women under the age of 45 years old. The evaluation aimed to measure awareness about the scheme, and whether the scheme was successful in incentivising self-employed mothers to stop working around childbirth to improve health outcomes. The evaluation found the programme to be successful on both accounts. 78% of self-employed women who had been pregnant since 2008 were aware of the ZEZ benefit in 2012, and 44% of self-employed women who had not been pregnant were aware of it. Among women who could have used the benefit, 84% did. The ones who did not cited other sources of income (e.g. the self-employed activity was a secondary source of income to salaried employment) as well as timing issues (they gave birth right when the scheme introduction and thus could not benefit). 73% of respondents who became mothers stopped working before or after their baby was born, among which 46% did so for 16 weeks (the length of the ZEZ benefit), 32% stopping for a shorter period and 22% stopping for more than 16 weeks. Beneficiaries report that the scheme is easy to use and appreciate its flexibility in terms of start date.
The ZEZ is expanding due to a growing volume of beneficiaries and amount paid. The scheme had 3 800 beneficiaries in 2020 (with an average yearly benefit of EUR 19 617 for a total budget of EUR 74 million) and 3 900 in 2021 (with an average yearly benefit of EUR 19 951 for a total budget of EUR 78 million). 80 000 beneficiaries are expected in 2022 (with an expected yearly benefit of EUR 20 256 for a total budget of EUR 80 million). This upward trend has occurred for several years: there were 3 100 beneficiaries in 2015 (with an average yearly benefit of EUR 16 843 for a total budget of EUR 52 million).