Paid Maternity Leave – A long time coming for Australian parents
One outstanding item in the Rudd Budget announced this week was the long overdue paid leave for parents after the birth of their infants. The Australian Productivity Commission studied the issue of paid maternity leave and recommended that the government fund 18 weeks leave for mothers and 2 weeks for fathers (‘or partners’). The Government has now approved those measures, which will go in to effect in 2011.
When the details of the Rudd budget were announced Dr Moyes stated that it was a very good move that was actually decades overdue because the Scandinavian countries had had these kind of supports in place 40 years ago. In fact, all of the European nations have had generous paid maternity schemes for many years. Australia is really just now catching up with these new payments.
Christian organisations have applauded this decision as they see the role of mother as one of the most important jobs in Australia. They suggest, however, that paid maternity leave should be just one component in a wider strategy to address better support for babies and early years of childhood which are so vulnerable and impressionable.
The existing family benefit payments are very generous but have favoured stay-at-home mothers over working mothers, according to its critics, and provided a disincentive for women to go back to work after giving birth. The government’s decision to now provide a maternity payment for working mothers is intended to address this perceived social injustice.
The Unions back the paid maternity leave scheme, as does the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner. They believe it is reasonable, affordable and will boost the economy as well as redressing the gender inequality that has been inherent in the situation. It will also help employers keep valuable staff thereby being part of the solution to some of the economic pressures faced by the nation.
Traditionally Christians have generally believed that the ideal model for family life is a provider father and home-maker mother who looks after the children, but according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics there are fewer and fewer of these families left in the modern world – where two pay packets are deemed necessary. The changing pattern of family life in just the past few decades has resulted in great social change that has had powerful, not always beneficial, effects on children. But one thing is clear enough: new babies and their families need support and assistance from the rest of the Australian community. And the paid parental leave scheme is very welcome!