EMILY’s List welcomes the Productivity Commissions recommendation of 18 weeks of leave for new mothers and calls on the Rudd Labor Government to introduce paid maternity leave in the next Federal Budget. “The provision of paid maternity leave is integral to fair and equitable workplaces and we believe that the model put forward in the draft report is a positive one. We were particularly pleased to see that the recommendations are well above the minimum standards suggested by the ILO” said EMILY’s List Victorian Convenor Moira Rayner.
“EMILY’s List was pleased with the Commission’s attention to the realities of working women’s lives, through the inclusion of part time, casual, contract and self-employed workers in the paid maternity leave proposal. We commend the Commission for acknowledging the diversity of contemporary Australian families by proposing leave entitlements for both heterosexual and same-sex partners” said Ms Rayner.
The model suggested by the Commission would help workers balance the competing demands of work and family life; promote lifelong workforce attachment for women and redress, to some extent, the barriers they face at work. Normalising employees caring responsibilities, has been, and will continue to be an important process in changing the culture of work to better respond to the needs of an increasingly diverse workforce. “The proposed model is not a perfect system. In particular, EMILY’s List would like to see employer top-ups over the tax-payer funded minimum wage rate incorporated into the paid parental leave scheme” said Ms Rayner.
”We hope to see the Rudd Government implement a publicly funded system which facilitates, supports and values women's contributions in the workplace and to the workforce. We encourage the Government to implement the scheme at the next Budget.” said Ms. Rayner
For more about Emily's List see www.emilyslist.org.au
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Just a concern - providing paid maternity leave without an equivalent paid paternity scheme could further entrench gender roles. Caring for children, rather than a joint enterprise, is relgated to mothers only by default. Couples who wish to share roles more equitably might find themselves pushed into traditional roles if only women have access to paid carers leave.
Personally, I strongly support a paid maternity scheme (I can't believe we are even having this debate). But parenting is not only "womens business"
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