In several cities in the country, mothers will protest from 6 p.m. today. In Sofia, the demonstration will be held in front of the Council of Ministers with the main demand to increase the compensation for the second year of maternity leave, BNR reports.
The organizers have prepared a package of proposals and insist that the most urgent measures be adopted as soon as possible. They will also demand a clear timetable for their implementation.
Ivanka Todorova is a mother and one of the organizers of the protest:
"What sparked the initiative is my anger that maternity leave will not be increased again. It will remain at this miserable amount, which is barely above the social minimum for living and, realistically speaking, it is not enough for anything.
Our protest on Wednesday is, first of all, about the unfulfilled promises that were made and which in May we are again being told that will be fulfilled – 75%, 460 euro, but finally, in general, against the entire attitude of the state for years now. And actually not all things... A lot of things can be implemented quite quickly and do not require much..."
According to Eurostat data, Bulgaria is among the countries in the European Union with the longest maternity leave. The highest paid maternity leave is in Luxembourg, and among the countries with a shorter period are Germany, Belgium and Sweden.