The president (PT) stated, this Monday (April 13, 2026), that women are “harmed in political participation” due to lack of support in raising children. The statement was made during the ceremony to regulate daycare reimbursement and the reduction of working hours for outsourced employees of the federal public administration, held at Palácio do Planalto.
“If a woman has a child, who is going to feed, bathe and put that child to sleep if she has no help? She is inferior and disadvantaged in political participation. Freedom for her is more theoretical than practical”these.
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The president also stated that the government is in “an immense struggle to improve the living conditions of Brazilian women”. The issue of women’s rights has been frequently addressed by Lula in recent statements, mainly in relation to gender-based violence.
On April 9th, Lula aimed at protecting women:
- PL 2,942 of 2024: establishes the use of electronic ankle monitors to monitor aggressors in cases of domestic violence. Therefore, it expands the monitoring instruments of the Maria da Penha Law;
- PL 3.88 of 2024: typifies the so-called “vicarious crime”, when the aggressor targets third parties – such as children – to cause psychological suffering to the woman;
- PL 1,020 of 2023: establishes the National Day to Protect and Combat Violence against Indigenous Women, with the inclusion of the topic in the official calendar and increasing the visibility of the agenda.
In his speech, the PT member declared that “husbands need to learn to get into the kitchen to help wash the dishes, cook and share things”. According to him, if there is no division of domestic labor, the world will continue “unequal”.
“When we think about this, we are thinking about a new civilization that we want to create”stated Lula.
THE EVENT
The government regulated daycare reimbursement and the reduction of working hours from 44 hours to 40 hours for federal public administration contractors. The actions are in addition to policies implemented in 2024 and 2025, which have already covered more than 19,000 outsourced people.
In his speech, the minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Guilherme Boulos (Psol), declared: “If it depends on President Lula, we will soon extend this right to all workers in Brazil.”
The minister refers to the . The government should send, this week, the PL with constitutional urgency to limit the work schedule to 40 hours per week. The president is expected to meet later this week with the president of the Chamber of Deputies, (Republicanos-PB), to handle the sending of the project.
Here are the measurements:
- refund-daycare: will benefit approximately 14,000 children whose parents or guardians work as outsourced workers. The amount will be up to R$526.64 per month per dependent;
- reduction in working hours: goes from 44 hours to 40 hours, without salary reduction. It will reach around 60,000 workers. The rule does not apply to professionals who work on a 12h x 36h or 24h x 72h shift schedule.
Here are the authorities who participated in the ceremony:
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – President of the Republic;
- Esther Dweck – Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services;
- Luiz Marinho – Minister of Labor and Employment;
- Guilherme Boulos – Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic.
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