Stop Losing Money Every Month: Understand Your SSB Rights

Ko Zaw Myo worked as a delivery coordinator at a logistics company in South Dagon for two years. Every month, 2 percent was deducted from his salary for Social Security Board contributions. He never questioned it — he assumed it was just another tax the government took. When his wife had a complicated pregnancy and needed surgery at a private clinic, Ko Zaw Myo borrowed 800,000 kyats from a money lender at brutal interest. His coworker, Ko Thiha, had the same situation three months earlier. But Ko Thiha went to the SSB Township Office and filed a maternity benefit claim. His wife's medical costs were covered. Ko Thiha also learned that the employer was required to contribute 3 percent on top of the employee's 2 percent — meaning the SSB fund held far more than most workers realized. Ko Zaw Myo was devastated. He had been paying into a system for two years and never once checked what he was entitled to receive back. The money lender's interest cost him an additional 200,000 kyats. All because he treated SSB as a loss instead of an asset.