A woman holds her baby after giving birth at Kacyiru Hospital on January 1, 2022. Craish Bahizi
Jade Natacha Iriza
Tuesday, April 04, 2023
Women who work in the informal sector have requested to be relieved from some taxation during their time off after giving birth.
It was pointed out that women working in the informal economy, often under unwritten agreements and with little to no knowledge of labor laws that are designed for employment in the modern and organized formal economy, often don’t benefit from amenities that the law could provide for.
Take, for example, taxes. “After we give birth, regardless of whether you had a difficult pregnancy or took a long time to recover, and couldn’t go to work for a long time; you still have to pay taxes, regardless of whether you earned anything during that period,” explained Jeanine Mukamana, a retailer in Kimironko market.