ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:
“Surprisingly, this new data from a national survey conducted by Dr Marian Baird, University of Sydney School of Business, finds that men are more likely to be working where there is paid maternity leave, but women are missing out.”
“It finds that low paid mothers — many of whom are employed in casual or part-time jobs —are the least likely to have access to paid maternity leave.”
“The survey also found that three out of four parents (74%) did not use or did not know of their entitlement to unpaid parental leave after the birth of a child. It found that fathers are significantly less likely to take unpaid leave while women on high incomes (over $70,000 a year) are more likely to take time off without pay to care for a newborn child.”
“This suggests that large numbers of low and middle income parents simply can’t afford to take unpaid leave. It suggest that in the absence of better financial support from Government and employers they are choosing to either use up their entitlements to paid annual leave and long service leave or resign their job.”
“Overall, the findings of this research strongly support the ACTU’s push for a national paid maternity leave scheme that provides all mothers with 14 weeks pay at the minimum wage.”
“The research casts serious doubt on the capacity of current workplace arrangements and leave provisions to allow parents and especially fathers to spend adequate time at home with their children.”
“The ACTU is running a test case on work and family before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission with hearings due later this year.”
“The ACTU is calling for mothers to have the right to work part-time after the birth of a child and for employees to be given greater flexibility with their hours of work, location of work, and for leave during school holidays.”
“Mothers employed casually should also be given the right to unpaid leave for family emergencies and caring responsibilities. Currently, two out of every five working mothers are employed casually and do not have access to leave even when their child is sick.”
“Prime Minister John Howard has failed to deliver on his promise to make work and family a priority. For two years he has done nothing about proposals for a national paid maternity leave scheme. Working families are tired of waiting for the Howard Government.”
“Families deserve more financial help from government but, just as importantly, they need a Prime Minister that will push employers to provide more family-friendly workplaces.”