Social security campaign to promote optional subscriptions for housewives

AMMAN — Around 27,000 Jordanian housewives have been optionally subscribed to the Social Security Corporation (SSC) since the inclusion of this segment of society in 2010, an official said on Monday.

SSC Director General Nadia Rawabdeh said optional subscription is a safety net for Jordanian resident and expatriate housewives, as it entitles them to old age, injury and disability pensions once they meet the requirements. 

Speaking at the launch of a new campaign to encourage housewives to subscribe electronically through the SSC's website, Rawabdeh explained that those wishing to subscribe are required to pay 16.75 per cent of the monthly wage subject to deduction.

Eligible subscribers must be Jordanian, over 16 years and under 55 (for those subscribing for the first time), and must not be officially registered workers.

Housewives under 55 years who used to work and were thereby subscribed to the SSC can return the compensation they received from the corporation upon the termination of their previous job and continue their previous subscription, the SSC director said.  

The "Subscribe from Your Home" campaign will be launched on March 1 and will address the targeted audience across the country through online and offline media tools, in addition to meetings and lectures, according to the SSC.

Around 5,500 housewives already receive SSC old-age retirement pensions, Rawabdeh noted, adding that housewives can pay ahead and also terminate their subscription for a period not exceeding 12 months and rejoin.

Out of a total of 181,000 social security pensioners, 14 per cent are women, according to the SSC.

Around 200,000 out of some 1.3 million Jordanian families are headed by women, said SSC Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi, adding that active female SSC subscribers have increased over the past four years from 25 to 27 per cent of the overall number of 1.112 million active subscribers.