The financing need for expanding paid maternity leave to support breastfeeding in the informal sector in the Philippines

Ulep, Valerie Gilbert T.; Zambrano, Paul; Datu-Sanguyo, Janice; Vilar‐Compte, Mireya; Belismelis, Graciela Ma Teruel; Pérez‐Escamilla, Rafael; Carroll, Grace; Mathisen, Roger

doi:10.1111/mcn.13098

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Using this cost, the percent of our administrative cost as compared to the total cost falls between 5 -36% (Table 3), depending on the UC used in the calculation. Our administrative cost per woman and its share out of the total cost is higher than that of Mexico, but comparable to the study conducted in the Philippines [31,58].…”

Section: • Stepsupporting

confidence: 81%

The yearly financing need of providing paid maternity leave in the informal sector in Indonesia

Siregar

Pitriyan

Hardiawan

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background The economic cost of not breastfeeding in Indonesia is estimated at US$1.5–9.4 billion annually, the highest in South East Asia. Half of the 33.6 million working women of reproductive age (WRA) in Indonesia (15-49 years) are informal employees, meaning they are working as casual workers or they are self-employed (small scale business) and assisted by unpaid/family worker(s). No specific maternity protection entitlements are currently available for WRA working informally in Indonesia. This study aims to estimate the financing need of providing maternity leave cash transfer (MCT) for WRA working in the informal sector in Indonesia.Method The costing methodology used is the adapted version of the World Bank methodology by Vilar-Compte et al, following pre-set steps to estimate costs using national secondary data. We used the 2018 Indonesian National Socio-Economic Survey to estimate the number of women working informally who gave birth within the last year. The population covered, potential cash transfer’s unitary cost, the incremental coverage of the policy in terms of time and coverage, and the administrative costs were used to estimate the cost of MCT for the informal sector. Result At 100% coverage for 13 weeks of leave, the yearly financing need of MCT ranged from US$175million (US$152/woman) to US$669million (US$583/woman). The share of the yearly financing need did not exceed 0.5% of Indonesian Gross Domestic Product (GDP).Conclusion The yearly financing need of providing MCT for eligible WRA working in the informal sector is economically attractive as it amounts to less than 0.5% of GDP nominal of Indonesia. While such a program would be perceived as a marked increase from current public health spending at the onset, such an investment could substantially contribute to the success of breastfeeding and substantial corresponding public health savings given that more than half of working Indonesian WRA are employed in the informal sector. Such policies should be further explored while taking into consideration realistic budget constraints and implementation capacity.

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Section: • Stepsupporting

confidence: 81%

The yearly financing need of providing paid maternity leave in the informal sector in Indonesia

Siregar

Pitriyan

Hardiawan

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Yet, such supportive policies are lacking in many countries and even when legislated are inadequately implemented resulting in low coverage. Mothers, usually those with the lowest levels of education, working in the informal sector usually have no protections whatsoever [ 40 ] although there are efforts underway to cost providing this benefit in some countries [ 41 , 42 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal education and equity in breastfeeding: trends and patterns in 81 low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2019

Neves

Barros

Gatica-Domínguez

et al. 2021

Int J Equity Health

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Background In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), low levels of formal maternal educational are positively associated with breastfeeding whereas the reverse is true among women with higher levels of formal education. As such, breastfeeding has helped to reduce health equity gaps between rich and poor children. Our paper examines trends in breastfeeding and formula consumption by maternal educational in LMICs over nearly two decades. Methods We used 319 nationally representative surveys from 81 countries. We used WHO definitions for breastfeeding indicators and categorized maternal education into three categories: none, primary, and secondary or higher. We grouped countries according to the World Bank income groups and UNICEF regions classifications. The trend analyses were performed through multilevel linear regression to obtain average absolute annual changes in percentage points. Results Significant increases in prevalence were observed for early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding across all education categories, but more prominently in women with no formal education for early breastfeeding and in higher level educated women for exclusive breastfeeding. Small decreases in prevalence were seen mostly for women with no formal education for continued breastfeeding at 1 and 2 years. Among formula indicators, only formula consumption between 6 and 23 months decreased significantly over the period for women with primary education. Analysis by world regions demonstrated that gains in early and exclusive breastfeeding were almost universally distributed among education categories, except in the Middle East and North Africa where they decreased throughout education categories. Continued breastfeeding at 1 and 2 years increased in South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia for primary or higher education categories. Declines occurred for the group of no formal education in South Asia and nearly all education categories in the Middle East and North Africa with a decline steeper for continued breastfeeding at 2 years. With a few exceptions, the use of formula is higher among children of women at the highest education level in all regions. Conclusions Over the course of our study, women with no formal education have worsening breastfeeding indicators compared to women with primary and secondary or higher education.

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“…This is key because more than half of women in Latin America, South Asia and sub‐Saharan Africa are employed in this sector. In Burkina Faso, Mexico, the Philippines and the United States, 65.7%, 52%, 52% and 14.8% of economically active women work in the informal sector, respectively (ILO, 2018; Ulep et al, 2021; Vilar‐Compte et al, 2019). Some countries have already assessed annual of maternity cash transfers for women with informal employment, ranging from US$87 million to US$280 million in Mexico from million to US$309 million in the Philippines (Ulep et al, 2021; Vilar‐Compte et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Countries' experiences scaling up national breastfeeding, protection, promotion and support programmes: Comparative case studies analysis

Hernández‐Cordero

Pérez‐Escamilla

Zambrano³

et al. 2022

Maternal & Child Nutrition

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Scaling up effective interventions, policies and programmes can improve breastfeeding (BF) outcomes. Furthermore, considerable interest exists in learning from relatively recent successful efforts that can inform further scaling up, with appropriate adaptations, across countries. The purpose of this four‐country case studies analysis was to examine why and how improvements in BF practices occurred across four contrasting countries; Burkina Faso, the Philippines, Mexico and the United States of America. Literature reviews and key informant interviews were conducted to document BF trends over time, in addition to why and how BF protection, promotion and support policies and programmes were implemented at a national level. A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted. The ‘Breastfeeding Gear Model’ and RE‐AIM (Reach; Effectiveness; Adoption; Implementation; and Maintenance) frameworks were used to understand and map the factors facilitating or hindering the scale up of the national programmes and corresponding improvements in BF practices. Each of the studied countries had different processes and timing to implement and scale up programmes to promote, protect and support breastfeeding. However, in all four countries, evidence‐based advocacy, multisectoral political will, financing, research and evaluation, and coordination were key to fostering an enabling environment for BF. Furthermore, in all countries, lack of adequate maternity protection and the aggressive marketing of the breast‐milk substitutes industry remains a strong source of negative feedback loops that are undermining investments in BF programmes. Country‐specific best practices included innovative legislative measures (Philippines), monitoring and evaluation systems (United States of America), engagement of civil society (Mexico) and behavior change communication BF promotion (Burkina Faso) initiatives. There is an urgent need to improve maternity protection and to strongly enforce the WHO Code of Marketing of Breast‐Milk Substitutes.

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The financing need for expanding paid maternity leave to support breastfeeding in the informal sector in the Philippines

Cited by 18 publications

References 13 publications

The yearly financing need of providing paid maternity leave in the informal sector in Indonesia

The yearly financing need of providing paid maternity leave in the informal sector in Indonesia

Maternal education and equity in breastfeeding: trends and patterns in 81 low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2019

Countries' experiences scaling up national breastfeeding, protection, promotion and support programmes: Comparative case studies analysis

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