Funding Approved to Help Cover Reduced Social Security Contributions

BANGKOK (NNT) - A 4.5 billion baht budget has been approved to partially cover reduced contributions to the Social Security Fund (SSF) over the next three months.

Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said the Cabinet approved the funding on Tuesday (5 Apr) to help SSF subscribers from May to July 2022. This will allow subscribers to save more money in order to pay for other necessary expenses during the economic slowdown.

Employees under Section 33 of the Social Security Act need to contribute just 1% of their monthly income (capped at 15,000 baht) to be covered by the welfare scheme, down from 5% previously. Former employees under Section 39 who continue to contribute to the SSF after leaving their jobs will see their payments reduced from 9% to 1.9% during the same time period. Workers under Section 40 will meanwhile have their monthly contributions reduced to 42-180 baht.

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The fund will help offset reductions in the elderly fund portion of the contributions for the three-month period. For example, those insured under Section 33, whose overall monthly contributions will be lowered to 1%, will see their contributions increase to 2.95% as a result of the government’s funding approval in the SSF.

The 4.5 billion baht funding will assist approximately 4.8 million SSF subscribers in alleviating their economic burden amid rising prices and the ongoing pandemic.