Mothers’ Bonus significantly reduced this year but extended to autonomous workers

ROME – Over 360,000 working mothers in Italy, who are on zero-hours contracts with two children have stopped receiving the Bonus Mamme in their monthly payslips, which had a value of up to 3000 euros per year in 2024.

 Instead, the government have offered a reduced alternative, proposed by Minister for Labour and Social policies, Marina Calderone, for many of these women. The new measure extends the group of recipients to both self-employed workers and fixed-term employees with at least two children but with two limitations. There is now an income limit of 40 thousand euros per year - which was not in place before, so above one earns above this threshold there will no longer receive any of this benefit. 

 Another issue is that this year only 300 million benefits will be available, compared to the approximately 368 million available in 2024 for working mothers with two children. Working mother who have three or above children continue to receive extra support in their monthly payslips. The measure shall be valid until 2026 without income limits, unlike that for women with less children. 

 The ministry's goal is ‘to avoid excluding new workers among those potentially involved, even at the cost of significantly lowering the percentage of de-contribution, to fit into the budget allocated for these benefits.’ 

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