Malaysia Introduces Post-Maternity Wage Allowance

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 5 May 2026

• Anwar Ibrahim introduced an 80% wage allowance for 30 extra days post-maternity leave
• Aims to support working mothers and boost workforce participation
• Targets reducing job dropouts after childbirth

Anwar Ibrahim announced a new wage allowance for mothers returning to work after having a child, who will be entitled to a further month of 80% replacement of their earnings beyond the period covered by the statutory maternity leave from the workplace.

This is primarily designed to be a measure of labour protection/social protection for working mothers as they are going through postpartum.

However, beyond merely providing for mothers and their new babies financially, there are many more issues this will create because of the very delicate and still unresolved linkages between mothers' participation in the workforce and exclusive breastfeeding results in Malaysia, which can be viewed through the lens of public policy.

"This allowance is financial assistance for additional leave of up to 30 days per month taken after the end of the 98-day maternity leave period," the prime minister said.

A single payment of the allowance will be made to employees of female comparative insurance assignments based upon 80 percent of their monthly wages. An amendment to the Canadian Employment Insurance System Act, 2017 will be proposed to establish this benefit. The anticipated magnitude of the benefit potentially benefits up to 132,000 Canadian women who are working throughout Canada.

The eligibility for the allowance will extend to women who have been employed for 90 days in the nine months before the date of their child’s birth, who have worked one cumulative day during the four months immediately prior to their child’s birth and who do not have five living children.

The Prime Minister, Anwar, indicated that statistics show that there has been a reduction in the rate of participation for women between the ages of 25 and 39. Some of the reasons cited for this reduction have been due to maternity-related obligations associated with this age demographic.

"The rationale is that we do not want mothers to feel forced to quit and leave the field of work after that, as has happened so far," he added.