Stop whingeing about maternity pay!
This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged on maternity pay. Last time, it was to say how horrified I was when I first found out—coming from a country with generous maternity leave provisions—that Australian women didn’t have the same luxury. But is it a luxury?
As editor of a magazine for small business owners, I’m now forced to look at it from the small business angle rather than simply someone who one day hopes to be a working mother. Tomorrow’s budget is expected to contain a commitment from the Government for 18 weeks’ paid parental leave for women earning less than $150,000 a year. But not until 2011.
The federal minimum wage will be paid to new parents by the Government, and not businesses. This is a huge policy reform, and a step forward for women in business, particularly being announced in the middle of a recession.
Now people are already starting to find things to whinge about (and I’m normally a big fan of that). The negatives include that it isn’t happening until 2011, and that businesses who were going introduce their own maternity leave provisions will now abandon them, safe in the knowledge that the Government will pay for it come 2011, so why would they?
All valid points but just for a moment, it wouldn’t hurt for us to celebrate a massive step forward for women in Australia. We may just be catching up with (rather than overtaking) the rest of the Western world, but the fact is, we’re getting there.
What do you think?
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I agree it’s a gigantic step forward. I’d take a punt that alot of women employed by Smalll Business resign altogether because they’d rather do that than come back to work earlier than normal. This is a huge cost to Small Business too – having to rehire and retrain staff. Such a shame that they haven’t been gutsy enough to implement it sooner.
If there is a cost to small business, they will simply phase out the employment of women, businessses who rely on female staff will simply have to cop it, however i think you will find out that the number of women emploed in Australia will will dramatically decrease, with employers in small business prefering to hire males where possible, just in case.
Due to having no maternity leave at all in my small business, I had to return to work 3 weeks after having my baby 5 months ago. I still resent the fact that this had to be the case. Had I had access to 18 weeks maternity leave, I would have returned to work a much happier, more relaxed employee. Stop assuming women will all quit after 18 weeks. I would hope that any sane, reasonable employer would not consider not hiring a woman of child bearing age simply for fear that she might leave. Ridiculous!
I think having children is a choice not a right. If you choose to have children you should be prepared to accept that not everyone makes that choice and it should not be the obligation of your employer or anyone else to support you in any way. It’s nice if an employer does support their employees personal choices I am all for that but I don’t think they should be required to do anything it should be their choice.
Thank you, Enoxh, for offering a rational alternative view. I couldn’t agree more. I would have liked to take a month off work to hang out with my puppy after we got him – he’s as important to me as a child – but that wouldn’t have washed because it was my choice to get a dog!
When I had my first child, I chose to resign from my employer as I knew that I would not be ready to put my child in a daycare centre when he was less than a year old. Paid maternity leave would not have affected my decision.
And No – I am not in a high income household. I simply put my baby first. I would prefer to be broke than leave my baby for someone else to bond with.
Paid maternity leave is to enable mums who are in desperate need of continued income to be able to stay at home longer with their tiny newborns.
I am absolutely horrified that some women return to work within a matter of weeks after giving birth. Anything we can do to prevent this is paramount.
This new payment will allow many women to stay at home and bond with their precious bub for a minimum of 4-5 months and is therefore a wonderful thing.
Anyone who really believes that babies deserve less time with their mother than this, perhaps should only ever have a puppy instead of a baby.
I am ecstatic that the Government is funding this, rather than it falling to employers. Not many small businesses would have been able to sustain such a heavy financial burden and yes – women of child bearing age would have been less employable if it was not to be government funded.
Thank-you Kevin, for supporting maternal bonds and the family unit.
What’s the average period of employment for staff (male or female) aged between 25 and 35 at any one workplace? 3 years, 4 years, 5 years?
I figure in this era of fickleness, if you’re going to lose employees – male or female – after about 5 years anyway, there is no disadvantage to hiring a woman of child-bearing age.
In fact, if you’re a good employer, they are more likely to come back and work for you when they’re ready, which means one less person to train. Work and motherhood is not impossible, it’s just a different way of looking at employment.
I’m still gobsmacked that Australians get no paid maternity leave. I was fortunate enough to get 26 weeks off on full pay after my son was born.
I’ve been in Perth a year now coming from the UK. It’s great that Aus is introducing paid maternity leave, it may be behind other western countries but they haven’t been all bad. I don’t think the UK pays out a baby bonus when you have a baby..
It is not about whinging is simply that if women didn’t take time off to have a baby then most of us wouldn’t be here. Having babies is part of evolution it is that simple, we need to recreate for the world to carry on, but when we do we are made to feel as if it our decision and therefore we should expect nothing in return.
yep as if it’s the same to have a dog … lol
Being a small business owner with my husband who create employment for staff in Australia and regulalry pay our taxes to the government.
I am currently due to have our first child in October and I am in no way entitled to maternity leave currently, thank god for the baby bonus as I would be entitled to nothing at least this way I can get the baby bonus as I would like to think I can get some relief from the taxes I pay after funding all the drug addicts, single mothers to mention a few on centrelink payments that my taxes pay.
I just hope this paid maternity leave doesn’t encourage those to take up quick employment and then get pregnant in order to get this paid leave as we should be encouraging long term staff not a quick fix that benefits the employee only. hey government what about a fair go to small business that make up this country!