As much as giving birth is a joyous moment, many families also say that it’s costly. Depending on where you deliver your baby and the procedures you need to have, you might need to spend anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands! Hence, it’s essential to get financial assistance from both public and private agencies. In other words, families should think of the maternity benefits institutions like SSS can provide. Here’s what you need to know about the SSS maternity computation.
Who Are Entitled to SSS Maternity Benefits?
Before we talk about the Social Security System or SSS maternity computation, let’s first enumerate the criteria needed to be qualified for it.
To qualify, you need to have made contributions for “3 consecutive months within the 12-month period immediately before the semester of her childbirth or miscarriage/emergency termination of pregnancy.”
Example
If your expected date of delivery falls in December 2022, then the semester of your childbirth includes July to December 2022.
The qualifying criteria for the SSS maternity computation is that you should have made 3 consecutive contributions within the 12-month period BEFORE the semester of your childbirth, which is July 2021 to June 2022.
So, even if you don’t have an updated contribution in the months nearing your childbirth, you’re still qualified – so long as you had made 3 consecutive payments within the year before the semester of your delivery.
Important
If you are not employed, are self-employed or voluntary member including OFW member, you must personally inform SSS that you’re pregnant and are planning to avail of the benefits. If you’re employed, you simply need to get in touch with your employer or HR department.
SSS Maternity Computation of Benefits
Now that you know whether or not you’re entitled to the benefits, let’s talk about the SSS maternity computation of benefits. How much can you get for your childbirth?
Step 1. Get your Average Daily Salary Credit or ADSC
To get your ADSC, you need to identify your Monthly Salary Credit. You can find it in the SSS-released images detailing the SSS Contribution Table. Simply look for your contribution/earnings and backtrack to its corresponding MSC.
- If you’re employed and earning P30,000 monthly within the 12-month period before the semester of your childbirth, your MSC is steadily at P20,000.
- To get your ADSC, you simply need to multiply P20,000 by 6 and then divide the answer by 180.
- In this example, it’s 20,000 x 6 = 120,000. Divide 120,000 by 180, giving you about P666.67. This is your ADSC.
For the SSS maternity computation, if you’re a voluntary or self-employed member, you simply need to ADD the 6 highest Monthly Salary Credit within the 12-month period before the semester of your childbirth. Then, divide the sum by 180 as well to get the ADSC.
Step 2. Determine the amount of your benefits
Now that you have your ADSC, you simply need to determine the amount of benefits you can avail.
For live births, whether vaginal birth or CS, multiply your ADSC by 105. In our example (ADSC of P666.67), that means you can get around P70,000.
If you’re a solo parent, you can multiply your ADSC by 120 in accordance with the Solo Parent’s Welfare Act. In our example, that’s around P80,000.
If you’ve had a miscarriage, multiply your ADSC by 60. In our example, that’s around P40,000.
Important Reminders
Note that you can avail of the SSS maternity benefits for each pregnancy. If you’re self-employed or a voluntary member, remember that you can file for the benefit online. Simply log into your SSS account, go to e-services, and proceed with the Maternity Benefit Application.
Also, even if you’re a government employee but you keep your contributions updated (voluntary member), you will still be entitled to the SSS maternity benefits.
Finally, don’t forget that besides SSS, you can also rely on the Philhealth Maternity Benefits.
Learn more about Getting Pregnant here.
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