Hassan Al-Sitri
The government has reservations about a draft parliamentary law amending social security to grant housewives a security entitlement, which aims to “take into account the conditions of housewives, improve the standard of living, and enhance the status of housewives because of their major role in building and giving back to society.” She stressed that the draft law conflicts with the constitutional foundations and objective principles on which the existing social security law is based, as the right to social security – in accordance with the provisions of the existing law – is not granted based on social characteristics or family roles, but rather it is a tool to protect the groups most in need of a decent minimum standard of living, in accordance with the approved legal controls. As for the proposed draft law, it departs from this framework, as it grants the category of “housewife.” Automatic entitlement to assistance simply by reaching a certain age and devoting it to caring for the family, without requiring the existence of actual economic need or consideration of the financial situation of the legal breadwinner who is obligated to provide support. Based on the above, the draft law – according to this perception – exceeds the basic purpose on which the existing law is based, as it transforms the role of the state from being an exceptional intervention that is supposed to occur when protection from the husband or family is impossible, to The role of a permanent substitute for the legal breadwinner, the housewife. The government added that being satisfied with the status of “housewife” as a criterion for eligibility represents an unfair simplification of the social positions in which they may live, as the circumstances of this group differ between those who live in affluent families, or possess financial resources, and those who are truly in dire need of support. Therefore, preventing this right in a general and absolute manner undermines the efficiency of social security, and opens the door to claims by other groups without clear standards or a sound constitutional or economic basis.
It considered that the draft law violates the principles of equality and social justice, by creating a special exception for the category of “housewife” proposed to be added to the eligible categories in Article Three of the existing law regarding entitlement to social assistance, without taking into account the principle of parity in the conditions applied to all other eligible categories under the current law, while the existing law requires a number of eligible categories – such as the orphan, the elderly, the disabled, and others not to They will have a financially capable breadwinner, and if there is one, this family or this category will be deprived of assistance. The proposed project also proposes that the “housewife” is entitled to social assistance regardless of the financial ability of her legal breadwinner, and this is an exception to the principle to which all eligible categories stipulated in the current law are subject.
According to the government’s memorandum, the proposed draft law includes, in its stipulations that Bahraini “housewife” women are entitled to social assistance, even in the event of a capable husband or relative who is legally obligated to provide alimony, noting that alimony is a personal obligation owed by the husband as long as the marital relationship exists, regardless of the wife’s financial situation or ability to work, as it is an authentic and stable obligation, required by Sharia and decided by law.
She believed that the proposed draft law may lead to duplication of entitlement to social assistance as a result of overlap with existing categories, noting the absence of the necessary financial study of the draft law and its negative impact on the general budget. The government confirmed the conflict of the draft law with national policies to empower women and encourage them to work, and concluded that there is no need for legislative amendment; Due to the availability of the existing legal framework.
