In the first nine months of 2022, the number of women who received financial assistance from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to give birth was nearly 40,000, a decrease when compared to the same period in 2021.

NSSF director general Ouk Somvithya said on November 17 that the government had provided allowances to 39,521 women.

“The number of women giving birth decreased by almost 20 per cent over the same period last year,” he said.

Somvithya said that as the Covid-19 situation has improved, so too has the health of workers. This year had seen a reduction in claims for healthcare benefits, although occupational risk claims had climbed 47.16 per cent.

Ith Samheng, Minister of Labor and Vocational Training and chairman of the NSSF Board, praised all of the members during a November 17 board meeting.

He said all members – as well as staff at all levels – had taken on their responsibilities with due seriousness, and that their work had been transparent and outstanding.

As of September 29, the government had spent more than $32 million to support women during childbirth.

When a woman gives birth to a single child, she receives 400,000 riel ($100). A woman who gives birth to twins gets 800,000 and those with triplets are given 1.2 million. Those who give birth to triplets also receive an additional special allowance of five million riel from Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife.

The NSSF also announced that the social security system for pensions in the private sector was recently launched successfully as many small enterprises have registered with the NSSF.

According to its official report, the number of enterprises registering has increased significantly, with 2,177 added in the first nine month of this year, and increase of 165.16 per cent over the same period last year.

As of September, a total of 13,355 enterprises – with 1,466,725 people employed – were registered with the NSSF. In the public sector, 35 institutions are registered for occupational risk and 39 for healthcare.