Changes designed to make paid parental leave more flexible have been labelled a “step backwards for gender equality” by experts as they create a disincentive for fathers to share caring responsibilities.
Tuesday’s budget revealed that the existing 18 weeks of paid primary carer leave and two weeks of “dad and partner pay” will be combined into an entitlement to 20 weeks of paid leave that can be divided between parents as they choose.
At a cost of $346.1m over five years, the parental leave measure means single parents get an extra two weeks of leave and expands eligibility to high income households earning up to $350,000.
While the change allows fathers and partners to take more parental leave, the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Michele O’Neil, said she doubted that would happen unless it was accompanied with an increase in the rate of paid leave.
“Despite the government saying either parent could share the leave … Actually, that’s a disincentive because the majority of women are on lower wages than men,” O’Neil said.
“It doesn’t fix the problem. Although on the surface, it looks like more men will participate in having paid leave – because of the low rate of [women’s] pay, that’s not going to come about.
“Look around the world – the best paid parental leave schemes are paid at a higher rate [than the minimum wage] and have an incentive for men to share in the care of children. There’s no incentive in this at all.”
Dr Leonora Risse, an economics lecturer from RMIT University and the national chair of the Women in Economics Network, said the paid parental leave flexibility was “a step backwards for gender equality”.
“International research clearly shows that removing the leave allowance earmarked for fathers results in mothers taking more leave, with little response from fathers,” Risse said in a statement.
“This policy change will have the effect of further entrenching traditional gender roles in Australian households.
“Extending the amount of use-it-or-lose-it paid parental leave for fathers would have been more effective in supporting more men to be a part of their children’s upbringing and more women to extend their workforce participation.”
The Australian Council of Social Services welcomed the extension of 20 weeks paid leave to single parents, which chief executive Cassandra Goldie said was “long overdue”.
Others criticised the failure to boost paid parental leave by adding superannuation to the payment.
Eva Scheerlinck, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, said it was “disappointing the government has failed to [introduce] super on paid parental leave”.
Women account for more than 90% of parental leave taken by primary carers, contributing to the fact they retire with 40% less superannuation, she said.
Scheerlinck said paying super on paid parental leave “would allow parents to continue building their retirement savings while taking time out of the paid workforce to care for children and family”.
Labor has signalled it is unlikely to oppose paid parental leave flexibility.
The shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, told ABC Radio on Tuesday that “on the surface, it looks OK to us” but he wanted to consult colleagues to “make sure that it’s getting maximum value for money and also doing the right thing by Australian mums and dads”.
Amanda Rishworth, the shadow minister for early childhood education and development, said she was “all for more flexibility when it comes to families”.
“But ultimately, the government’s tried to get a headline without giving any extra paid weeks to families,” she said on Wednesday.
The paid parental leave changes are set to take effect “no later than 1 March 2023”, according to the women’s budget statement.
