INSS: maternity allowance is paid to children under 16 years old – 06/28/2023 – Market

The INSS (National Institute of Social Security) began granting maternity pay to adolescents under 16 years of age and indigenous people of the Macuxi ethnic group.

Ordinance 1,132, which regulated the right, was published on May 15 of this year and follows a court decision determining the recognition of the contribution time of mandatory insured persons of any age.

Lawyers consulted by Sheet consider the measure a way to increase the protection of minor women, especially those who work in the countryside, who may be directly affected by the new measure.

The maternity salary is an INSS benefit granted to taxpayers with at least ten months of Social Security payments, a minimum grace period to have the benefit. The income, intended for individual, optional or special taxpayers, is paid for up to 120 days – about four months. Anyone who is hired under the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) regime has another rule.

The benefit is granted due to childbirth, non-criminal abortion, adoption or legal guardianship for adoption purposes. For insured employees, domestic servants and independent workers, there is no grace period. The rules apply to those under 16 years old.

In order to be entitled to maternity pay, underage teenagers need to prove their mandatory insured condition ten months before giving birth or prove they have worked in rural areas, which guarantees them special taxpayer status, before the child is born.

For Adriane Bramante, president of the IBDP (Brazilian Institute of Social Security Law), the new rule for granting the benefit should not be confused with an incentive for teenage pregnancy.

“The reality of rural activities in the countryside is people who end up having children before the age of 16 and actually work in the fields, in rural activities, becoming helpless without the social security benefit. The law has not changed, but the permission due to this decision to include these groups,” she says.

Fernanda Perregil, specialist in labor law and researcher at the nucleus Além do Direito do Trabalho at USP (University of São Paulo), considers that even though it is a protective measure for safeguarding the rights related to maternity, it is necessary to reflect on the conditions of minors in Brazil, which led to this expansion of the right

“It is a reality that happens in Brazil, not that this should be naturalized, because it is a public policy problem. And there is another more serious one, since the exploitation of child labor often enters this condition apparently naturalized with this ordinance”, he says. .

“I cannot have a public policy that provides for maternity pay without thinking about the other end, the fact that teenagers should not get pregnant”, says the expert.

Young people who work in the field are insured by the INSS

The young women who work in the countryside are considered to be specially insured and, in this case, do not need to pay a contribution to have their working time considered as an effective contribution to the INSS. They are considered special insured, which guarantees them not only the maternity salary, but other INSS benefits, such as retirement in the future, for example.

Roberto de Carvalho Santos, president of Ieprev (Institute of Social Security Studies), explains that, in the case of work in the field, the teenager does not necessarily need to be active, it is enough to be part of a family that survives from agriculture.

“Another situation that can generate the maternity salary before the age of 16 is when the teenager is in the family group of the special insured person, who is the small rural producer. This occurs due to several understandings of the Justice”, he says.

According to Santos, in cases of child labor and similar to slavery, minors can also apply for maternity pay, as, in these cases, there is also a judicial understanding that they should not be penalized twice for their situation.

Indigenous people are also considered to be specially insured, which makes them characterized as mandatory Social Security beneficiaries.

For those with a formal contract, the Constitution prohibits the work of minors under 16 years old, except as apprentices, a function that can be exercised from 14 years old. In these cases, there is a right to maternity pay.

How to claim maternity pay at the INSS

• Access the My INSS app or website
• Click the “New order” button;
• Type “maternity salary” in the search and click on it when the option appears
• Read the instructions and proceed
• You will need to send the necessary documents for the application, such as RG and CPF, in addition to the child’s birth certificate
• To send, simply take a photo and attach
• Write down the protocol number

To follow up and receive the response of your process, use My INSS in “consult requests”

The request can also be made through Central 135, from Monday to Saturday, from 7 am to 10 pm. In this case, it will be necessary to schedule a service date to take the documentation that proves the right to the INSS agency.

What documents are needed to apply for maternity pay?

• CPF
• Specific medical certificate determining removal from 28 days before delivery
• Document proving custody of the minor or term of custody with information on adoption
• In the case of an attorney or legal representative, it is necessary to attach to the request the term of legal representation (guardianship, curatorship, term of custody) and an identification document with a photo, in addition to the CPF of the attorney or representative