The interim government of Kosovo has decided to increase the allowances for unemployed maternity mothers from one hundred seventy (170) euros, which was for six months, to three hundred twenty-five point nine (325.9) euros. Meanwhile, for employed maternity mothers, in addition to the payment of seventy percent (70%) for six months from the employer, they will be supported by the government for the first three months after birth with three hundred nineteen point five (319.5) euros. In today’s meeting, the third decision was also the increase of salaries for civil servants by fifty-five (55) euros starting from July, a decision that was also foreseen in the Budget Law for 2025.
The acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, during his address said that his good governance continues with policies that focus on the well-being of citizens and the development of the country, KosovaPress reports.
“Our good governance continues with policies focused on the well-being of citizens and the development of the country. We started with good news for all new mothers early in the government’s mandate by initiating the allowance scheme for maternity women at the minimum wage level, 6 months from 170 euros for unemployed maternity mothers and 3 months from 170 euros for employed maternity mothers on top of the payment they already receive under the Labor Law. So far, about 70 thousand new mothers have benefited from these allowances. Since we now have a new minimum wage, it is time for this to be reflected in the allowances for maternity women… We will approve the monthly increase of allowances from 170 euros to 325.9 euros, which is the net value of the new minimum wage. For all maternity mothers, from this month on, the monthly allowance will increase to 325.9 euros, representing an increase of 91.7% or almost doubling the allowances,” he said.
Kurti stated that such an increase in allowances has never happened before and showed that allowances for new mothers who are employed will increase from one hundred seventy (170) euros to three hundred nineteen point five (319.5) euros.
“For 6 months, the increased allowance translates to 1,955.4 euros, and when we add the monthly child allowance, which is at least 20 euros per month or 120 euros for the first 6 months, it effectively means that the government supports each new mother with 2,075 euros… This has never happened before at this level of support; we can compare with many other bigger and economically stronger countries. Another good news is for employed maternity women. The Kosovo Agency of Statistics this week published the average wage level for 2024, which has seen a significant increase in recent years, reaching 639 euros. Along with this, today we will approve the reference average wage that serves to calculate the payment for 3 months at 50% of the average wage, which is the government’s obligation for each employed maternity mother. In addition to the 70% payment for 6 months from the employer, employed maternity mothers will receive government support for an additional 3 months in the amount of 319.5 euros, which is 50% of the minimum wage,” he added.
In today’s meeting, the interim government also decided to increase the salaries of civil servants by 55 euros, which will start to be implemented from July, as foreseen in the Budget Law for 2025.
“As we have stated and approved in the Budget Law, public servants’ salaries will increase twice by 55 euros, to complete a total increase of 110 euros for all. The first increase has already started to be implemented since January of this year; the second increase will start to be implemented from July as foreseen in the Budget Law. Today we will decide on additional budget allocations for all budget organizations to cover the budgetary cost… According to data published by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics last year, the average wage in the public sector was 755 euros; with this last increase we approve today, the average wage from next month will reach 865 euros per month. This represents an increase of 48.1%,” he emphasized.
