16 February 2006

 

SUBMISSION

 

To the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee on the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Paid Parental Leave for Self-Employed Persons) Amendment Bill

 

 

Introduction

 

1.      This submission is from Stuart Birks, Director, Centre for Public Policy Evaluation, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North

 

2.      The objective of the Centre for Public Policy Evaluation is “To facilitate the achievement of excellence in research in priority areas and to develop its domestic and international links. The focus will be on economic aspects of policies in a multidisciplinary context.” The work of the Centre has included, among other things, research and publications in the areas of family law and law and economics.

 

3.      I do not wish to appear before the committee to speak to my submission.

 

Comments

 

4.      While the objectives of the Bill include enhancing equity and enabling a self-employed parent to take paid leave, the Bill falls short in both these regards by failing to cater directly for biological fathers.

 

5.      The following is from the Work Life Balance section of the Action Plan for NZ Women at: http://www.mwa.govt.nz/news-and-pubs/publications/work-life-balance.html

 

Repeatedly, New Zealand research has identified the tension of trying to balance work and family responsibilities as a major concern for both women and men.

…

 

  • women continue to bear the major responsibility of raising families - there is a lack of recognition for that role and the fact that this responsibility should be more equitably shared with men

…

  • there is not enough emphasis on the importance of families and relationships

…

  • having more women in leadership and decision-making positions would be one means of generating more strategies to balance work, family and community responsibilities.

 

6.      In terms of the three bullet points from the Action Plan, the Bill i) does not support equitable sharing of the role of raising families; ii) fails to recognise, and therefore serves to undermine, the importance of fathers in terms of families and relationships; and iii) demonstrates that the presence of women in leadership and decision-making positions may do little to support the balancing of work, family and community responsibilities by men. As the Action Plan recognises, if men’s input in these areas is unbalanced, then women are not supported in achieving balance either.

 

7.      There is an additional illustration of poor design in the paid parental leave legislation. A further started objective of the Bill is “supporting the health and wellbeing of new mothers and babies”. If paid parental leave is intended to achieve health objectives for new mothers following childbirth, why is there no difference in the amount of leave provided for birth as compared to adoption?

 

Recommendation

 

That there be a specific paid parental leave provision for fathers which is independent of that for mothers.