Longer maternity leave for self-employed women in Belgium

Self-employed women will soon be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave and greater flexibility, according to a plan presented today by the minister for small businesses in Belgium, Willy Borsus, and social affairs minister Maggie De Block. Female independents will also no longer be required to pay social contributions for the quarter following the birth of their child.

The two ministers presented their plan for the promotion of female entrepreneurship in Belgium on the day before International Women's Day. It is a considerable improvement on the current system, which allows for a fixed and mandatory maternity leave of three weeks, followed by an optional and flexible leave of five weeks.

Under the new system, self-employed women will have a total of 12 weeks maternity leave, nine of which are flexible. These are to be taken within a period of 39 weeks, and there is an option to continue working part-time. In addition to the extension of the duration of maternity leave, the plan includes an exemption from social security contributions during that period.

The ministers are interested in using the plan as a type of barometer of female entrepreneurship in the country, to see whether the measures will have an impact on the number of self-employed women.

Currently about 33% of the self-employed workers in Belgium are women.