Baby leave blighted by gender bias

The gender divide inherent in Australia's parental leave system continues to leave women in a vulnerable position in the workplace, says a Sydney academic.

Marian Baird, convenor of the Women and Work Research Group, was speaking at a University of Sydney colloquium to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.

Associate Professor Baird, from the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies, said: "In all my research on maternity leave, I've found that most often, women accrue different types of leave - annual, long service and maternity - and package it all together to allow themselves more time at home with their child.

"Only a very small number of Australian men take paid paternity leave - around seven per cent - and even then, most employers only offer about seven days. Just 14 per cent of fathers take unpaid leave, compared with almost 60 per cent of mothers."

She pointed out that although new legislation allows parents an extra 12 months of unpaid leave - as well as the existing 12 months that employers must offer - employers are free to refuse this on their own terms. And though the provision of an extra year can be shared between parents and is therefore supposed to alleviate some of the burden of childcare placed on mothers, more often than not women ultimately take the extra year of leave.

All this, said Professor Baird, leaves women in an exceptionally vulnerable state in the workplace.

"By effectively keeping women out of paid employment for up to two years, we're saying a lot about the role of women in our society.

"If we don't start valuing this period in women's lives, we'll end up paying a huge social cost."

Professor Baird was adamant that Australian women must not waver in the fight for compulsory paid maternity leave. She did, however, warn that the issue had become increasingly complex since the Howard Government's introduction of the baby bonus scheme.

"This is already a fairly contentious issue, and it's only going to become a bigger problem," she said.

"Given the spate of trouble surrounding young mothers spending their bonus on unnecessary and extravagant items, the bonus is now handed out to mothers under 18 in fortnightly payments. We need to start thinking about the real social costs and benefits of this scheme, considering that it's fraught with so many risks.

"Perhaps we need to tax the payment, or mete it out to everyone in fortnightly payments."

Professor Baird, who has researched women, work and family for more than 15 years, encouraged women and their partners to think about what they want from their government and their employers.

"The most important thing is to recognise the equal rights and responsibilities of mothers and fathers. We need to insist on pay equity to equalise family economic decisions."

Professor Baird was one of ten academics to discuss women's status in the workplace at the colloquium, held at Sancta Sophia College. The day was opened by Tanya Plibersek, the Federal Minister for the Status of Women, and closed by State MP Verity Firth.