Coalition agreement: Will maternity protection be introduced for the self-employed?

When self-employed Johanna Röh had a daughter three years ago, she quickly realized that as an entrepreneur with Child does not fit into the system. While maternity protection and parental leave are not a problem for employees, the situation is much more complicated for the self-employed. Röh has been committed to changing this since her own pregnancy – and is now pleased with a milestone: Maternity protection for the self-employed was Coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the SPD concluded.

The paper states on page 104 under point 3247: "We want to introduce maternity protection for the self-employed analogous to the maternity protection periods for employees." To this end, pay-as-you-go models are to be examined promptly and concepts for protecting the affected companies are to be developed with the insurance industry.

Legally, the current situation in Germany is that self-employed Althoughwomen can apply for parental allowance, they are neither entitled to statutory maternity leave nor to maternity benefits. Those who want benefits must take out private daily sickness insurance. However, there are numerous exclusion criteria, and not every self-employed person can get such a policy.

Self-employed persons who are voluntarily insured with a statutory health insurance fund will receive maternity benefit during the maternity protection period in the amount of the health insurance fund's daily sickness benefit - but only if the entitlement to daily sickness benefit is also covered.

Together with other women, Röh submitted a petition to the German Bundestag. The 37-year-old reports that more than 100,000 signatures were collected. She spoke before the Petitions Committee – and the ball was set rolling.

An association was also founded, which now has almost 300 members across Germany, says Röh. The women come from all professional fields – because the problems are the same for all self-employed people who want to have children, whether they are doctors, pharmacists, or craftspeople.

Röh says it's an important sign for her and her fellow campaigners that their concerns have been addressed in the coalition agreement. Even though it's clear that there's still a long way to go before final implementation, the focus now is on taking small steps, such as first securing incomes and then developing industry-specific solutions. Farm assistants, as is already common practice in agriculture, are conceivable.

Currently, daily sickness benefits are the only insurance option for the self-employed. However, Röh criticizes that this comes with many exclusion criteria and only covers part of the cost of living. Operating costs are not covered.