NINE days to go before Christmas, the holiday season is indeed in full swing. Homes and buildings sparkle with colorful lights and dazzle with decorations, Christmas songs are played over the radio, and frenzied shoppers at malls and neighborhood bazaars hunt for the perfect gifts for their family, friends, officemates, batchmates, churchmates, neighbors…and the list goes on. Even the Social Security System’s (SSS) 13th- month pensions have been disbursed to SSS partner banks for release to pensioners’ savings accounts, adding more cheer to the Yuletide season.
The choices of items for gift-giving can be dizzying. But as a friendly piece of advice, how about giving something more meaningful and long-lasting?
Under the SSS guidelines, stay-at-home individuals married to actively paying SSS members, but have never been covered by the SSS, can be registered as nonworking spouses (NWS). As a Christmas present, active SSS members who find themselves in this situation can offer their spouse the gift of social-security protection. They can commit to ensure that part of their regular income would be allocated for the SSS contribution and active SSS membership of their spouse.
NWS represent a unique segment of SSS membership. The rest of SSS members have been employed in some capacity in the past or are still working in the private sector, either as company or household employees, self-employed persons or overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). NWS have never been employed or self-employed, but they have remained similarly busy and productive by keeping the household in order, budgeting the family’s finances and taking care of the children, among others.
Housewives are common examples of NWS. They dedicate their lives to attending to the diverse needs of their family, a noble duty that runs well beyond the typical eight-hour working day, with no vacation leaves at that. Their male counterparts, the stay-at-home dads, can also be common nowadays, given the significant number of Filipino mothers going overseas as domestic workers, leaving their husbands in charge of household matters.
The amount of SSS contributions of NWS depend on the monthly salary credit (MSC) of their working husband or wife. Per SSS policy, their contributions are computed based on half of the working spouses’ MSC. To illustrate this, assume that Pedro, a tricycle driver, remits regular contributions through the AlkanSSSya Program based on the P3,000 MSC, which has an equivalent monthly contribution of P330. Maria, his wife, can remit P165 for her monthly contribution as a NWS as computed from the P1,500 MSC.
NWS who regularly pay their contributions can become entitled to short-term and lifetime benefits for SSS-covered contingencies, such as maternity, sickness, disability, retirement and death.
It is important to note that current stay-at-home spouses who already have posted the SSS contributions during their previous employment or self-employment are no longer covered by the NWS category. If they want to continue paying their SSS contributions, they would instead be considered as “separated members,” meaning those separated from private-sector employment. As separated members, they can choose the MSC that would be the basis of their SSS contributions.
While the number of registered NWS continue to expand, showing a growth of 10 percent within the first nine months of this year, the overall total remains conservative, with slightly over 3,000 NWS members at present.
To register as a NWS, the person must fill out and submit the SSS Personal Record (E-1) form, duly signed by the working spouse, along with a copy of the marriage certificate and supporting documents for SSS number issuance, such as birth or baptismal certificate. Those who already have an SSS number should file the NWS Record (NW-1 Form) using the same SSS number.
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For more information about the Social Security System (SSS) and its programs, call its 24-hour call center at (632) 920-6446 to 55, Monday to Friday, or send an e-mail to member_relations@sss.gov.ph.
Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the SSS. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@gmail.com.