Australian women are going backwards in terms of paid maternity leave, putting the health of new mothers and babies at risk and undermining the capacity of many families to keep up mortgage repayments, says ACTU President Sharan Burrow.
New figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a drop in the number of women with access to paid maternity leave in the last year.
“We already know that as many as two-thirds of women do not have access to paid maternity leave. This means many new mothers are forced back to work earlier than they would like, often before they have established breast-feeding or bonded properly with their baby,” says Ms Burrow
“Women worst affected by a lack of paid leave are typically in casual, insecure, low-paid jobs in retail, hospitality and other service industries. Mortgages, childcare and other bills are a constant day-to-day pressure.”
The latest ABS figures reveal an alarming new development, she says.
In just 12 months, 6800 fewer women have access to paid maternity leave with the biggest drop among women employed in white collar real estate, education, finance and professional scientific and technical jobs.
“It’s well-documented that the former government’s WorkChoices laws cut conditions and weakened job security for women in particular. That appears to be reflected in the data,” says the ACTU President.
Ms Burrow says the economy, women and their families would all be better off under a universal, government-funded paid maternity leave scheme of at least 14 weeks, which would meet the most basic international ILO and World Health Organisation standards.
“At a time of skills shortages, we need to find ways to keep our economy growing. International evidence shows that women are more likely to return to work after a decent period of paid maternity leave, with some Australian employers reporting a return rate of up to 90%.
“This saves business tens of thousands of dollars in re-hiring and training costs. In a modern country like Australia, a universal, legislated scheme is well overdue,” says Ms Burrow.