While many Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have expanded maternity protection in recent years, important gaps in coverage and adequacy remain, particularly for women in informal employment and migrant workers, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Titled "Maternity benefits in the ASEAN: Progress and Opportunities for Integrated Approaches across Social Protection and Health Systems", the report provides an analysis of the range, coverage and level of social protection benefits which support income security and provide financial protection against healthcare costs during maternity in ASEAN Member States.
It identifies opportunities to strengthen coordination between social health protection and maternity cash benefit schemes, highlighting that integrated approaches can help reduce financial hardship associated with pregnancy and childbirth while improving access to quality care.
Produced by the ILO-Luxembourg Support to the Extension of Social Health Protection in Asia project, the report calls for extending maternity protection to all women, including workers in the informal economy; strengthening financing mechanisms to ensure sustainability and adequacy of benefits; and aligning maternity protection policies with broader social protection, health and care policies.
The publication also emphasizes the importance of international social security standards in guiding reforms towards universal, comprehensive and adequate social protection during maternity across ASEAN Member States. Its findings contribute to informing dialogue on social protection, while providing practical policy entry points for countries seeking to strengthen inclusive and gender-responsive maternity benefits.
"Ensuring income security and effective access to healthcare without financial hardship during maternity are essential for improving maternal and child health outcomes, preventing poverty and vulnerability, supporting women's labour force participation, and advancing gender equality," said Nathalie Both, Project Manager at the ILO, one of the co-authors of the report together with Lou Tessier, the ILO's Health Protection Specialist.
"The right to universal social protection during maternity needs to be upheld and its profile raised as an essential public investment in the future and a core component of countries' economic, health and care policies," Both added.
© Mongkon Duangkhiew/ILO
