With Unemployment at 9.8%: CUT Urges Kast to Avoid Utilizing Unemployment Insurance Funds for Universal Nursery Support

Original article: Con el desempleo al 9,8%: CUT presiona a Kast y exige no usar aportes del Seguro de Cesantía para financiar Sala Cuna Universal

In a backdrop where unemployment in Chile reached 9.8%, the highest since 2021, according to the latest National Employment Survey by INE, the Central Unitary of Workers (CUT) is lobbying the government of José Antonio Kast, insisting not to use contributions intended for Unemployment Insurance to fund the Universal Nursery.

The new proposals submitted from La Moneda include a reduction of the contribution rate from 0.35% to 0.3%, while maintaining the reallocation of 0.15% of employer contributions to the Solidarity Unemployment Fund. Meanwhile, it only reduces the withdrawals from the individual accounts of the Unemployment Insurance.

In light of this situation, CUT leader and representative of the Vice Presidency of Women and Gender Equity, Karen Palma, criticized Kast’s administration’s proposal.

“The government moved a comma, but did not change the essence of the problem,” she stated, while recalling that access to nursery care is a right for children and a program aimed at enhancing women’s economic independence, hence its funding should not rely on a hidden tax on the savings that protect workers against unemployment.

“Reducing the rate from 0.35% to 0.3% does not resolve the core issue: it still taps into the savings that protect workers when they lose their jobs,” Palma asserted.

“Workers should not bear the burden of a sort of tax for childcare (…) Nursery care is a right for children and a condition for women’s economic autonomy, not an expense that should come from the pockets of those who work,” she emphasized in statements collected by Radio Cooperativa.

One of the major criticisms from the labor organization focuses on the negative impacts that reallocating these funds would cause during a time of rising unemployment, which has now surpassed a million jobless individuals for the first time since 2020. Concurrently, the female unemployment rate stands at 10.5%, highlighting a deterioration that disproportionately affects women.

“The Unemployment Insurance must not be touched. It is the safety net for millions of families during unemployment, and weakening it in a job market filled with uncertainty is irresponsible,” Palma argued.

National Comprehensive Care Fund

In light of this situation, CUT is reiterating the need to establish a National Comprehensive Care Fund, which would be funded directly by the state to ensure nursery benefits, urging the government to abandon its «stubbornness» and open a «real dialogue» to approve the regulation before February.

“We have a serious and viable proposal on the table. We ask the government to end its stubborn approach and create a genuine dialogue about the National Comprehensive Care Fund. If it truly wants to pass this law before February, the way forward is to listen to workers and not to continue patching up a flawed design,” Palma concluded.

“We want nurseries, and we want them now, but with rights, with fair funding and without jeopardizing the protection of those who lose their jobs,” the leader affirmed.