MATERNITY BENEFITS AND FREE CHILDCARE, MALTA

Self-employed women are eligible to a maternity benefit of up to EUR 179.33 per week for 14 weeks (in comparison to the flat rate of EUR 97.84 per week for employees).

All self-employed women qualify if they are a Maltese citizen, married to a Maltese citizen, an European Union citizen, a citizen of a Member State of the European Social Charter¹, or a refugee who ordinarily resides in Malta or Gozo. The self-employed women must claim the benefits in the eighth month of their pregnancy or within the six months following childbirth, with a signed declaration of medical practitioner.

Self-employed women can make use of the government’s Free Childcare Scheme (FCS) and place their children within registered childcare centres or in government-provided childcare service institutions. FCS are open to children between the age of three months and three years. When applying, self-employed women need to provide proof of their self-employment situation and a (fixed or flexible) schedule to enable the proper function of the FCS.

How did the programme adapt to the Pandemic?
Malta experienced a forced closure of all its FCS centres in 2020 due to COVID-19. The centres had to adapt upon re-opening in mid-June 2020, hence limiting the support that the FCS could grant to self-employed women during this period.

¹ The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty that guarantees fundamental social and economic rights. It has 47 member states, including EU member states and other European countries.