Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus also wants to expand maternity leave for the self-employed in the future.

Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus spoke out in favor of improving maternity leave for the self-employed. “Equal treatment between self-employed and employees is not easy. But it must also be possible for the self-employed to start a family without too many obstacles,” said the Green politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Therefore, we should also allow freelance work for the self-employed.” Paus did not go into detail.

The Maternity Protection Act, which provides for protection periods before and after childbirth and income security during the employment ban, has not yet applied to pregnant and breastfeeding women who work exclusively independently.

Since 2017, self-employed women with private daily sickness allowance insurance have been entitled to payment of the agreed daily sickness allowance during the maternity protection periods. As can be read on the Ministry’s family portal, self-employed persons who are voluntarily insured with a statutory health insurance company receive maternity benefit in the amount of the sickness benefit from the health insurance company during the maternity protection periods. It is crucial that the entitlement to sick pay is also secured.