ILO report reviews maternity benefits across ASEAN | Report

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released a new report examining maternity protection across Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), finding that while coverage has expanded in recent years, significant gaps remain, particularly for women in informal employment and migrant workers, according to a press release issued in Bangkok on 2 June 2026. The publication analyzes the range, coverage, and level of social protection benefits supporting income security and financial protection against healthcare costs during maternity. It calls for stronger efforts to close coverage gaps and improve benefit adequacy for all women in the region.

The report, titled “Maternity benefits in the ASEAN: Progress and Opportunities for Integrated Approaches across Social Protection and Health Systems”, was produced by the ILO-Luxembourg Support to the Extension of Social Health Protection in Asia project. It examines social protection benefits during maternity across ASEAN Member States. The analysis focuses on both income security mechanisms and financial protection against healthcare costs. It identifies entry points for strengthening coordination between social health protection and maternity cash benefit schemes.

According to the report, integrated approaches can help reduce financial hardship associated with pregnancy and childbirth while improving access to quality care. The publication calls for extending maternity protection to all women, including workers in the informal economy. It also recommends strengthening financing mechanisms to ensure sustainability and adequacy of benefits. Additionally, it urges aligning maternity protection policies with broader social protection, health, and care policies.

“Ensuring income security and effective access to healthcare without financial hardship during maternity are essential for improving maternal and child health outcomes, preventing poverty and vulnerability, supporting women’s labour force participation, and advancing gender equality,” said Nathalie Both, Project Manager at the ILO and one of the co-authors of the report together with Lou Tessier, the ILO’s Health Protection Specialist. Both added that “the right to universal social protection during maternity needs to be upheld and its profile raised as an essential public investment in the future and a core component of countries’ economic, health and care policies.” The report emphasizes the role of international social security standards in guiding reforms.

The publication highlights the importance of working toward universal, comprehensive, and adequate social protection during maternity across ASEAN Member States. Its findings are intended to inform dialogue on social protection in the region. It also offers practical policy entry points for countries seeking to strengthen inclusive and gender-responsive maternity benefits. The ILO underscores that closing coverage gaps and improving benefit adequacy remain priorities. The report positions maternity protection as a core element of national economic, health, and care policies.