This project addresses the highly topical issue of parental leave and its implications for work/family balance and the boundaries between paid and unpaid work. Work/family balance is an increasingly pressing issue for both men and women, as well as the organisations for which they work; and it is high on the agenda of most contemporary governments. In Australia and elsewhere it has gained political prominence alongside trends such as increasing female labour force participation rates, erosion of the previously predominant ‘male full-time breadwinner/ female full-time housewife’ family model, declining birth rates and ageing populations. Under these conditions, pressures for policies to support the combination of childbirth and childcare with labour force engagement have escalated, although there is great variation between countries in the range and types of initiatives that have been implemented.
In spite of heightened interest, the ways parents currently manage their family and work responsibilities, and the means by which equitable outcomes are to be achieved and maintained, are not well understood. In Australia, even basic information on the use of parental leave policies has not been available – an issue recently highlighted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) in its 2002 report
A Time to Value: Proposal for a National Paid Maternity Scheme.
The primary aims of The Parental Leave in Australia Study are to redress the information deficit on parental leave in Australia and to provide a comprehensive analysis of the use of parental leave to inform policy development and theoretical debates. In pursuit of these aims, the research is designed to provide:
1. Comprehensive benchmark information on the use of parental leave (including paid and unpaid maternity and paternity leave) in Australia that can be used for comparisons over time and between countries;
2. Information on the preferences, choices and needs of mothers and fathers seeking to combine paid employment with the care of babies and young children, particularly the way these are shaped:
- in the workplace, in the context of employers’ and managers’ responses to the needs of employees with babies and young children; and
- in the household, in the context of family composition, financial pressures and perceptions of gender roles.
Project leaders, postdoctoral fellow, research assistants and postgraduate students
ARC funding, industry partners and other support
Level 1: The Parental Leave in Australia Survey, including November 2006 Report
Level 2: The Parental Leave in Australia Case Studies
Level 3: The Parental Leave in Australia Household Interviews
List of background papers, journal articles, referred papers in conference proceedings, conference papers and conference presentations
New! University of Queensland SBS Dean's Scholars' reports on Level 3 interviews
2008 Research Forum - Customs House Brisbane
The Backstop Breadwinner: Working Women in the Transition to Parenthood - Karen Reeves
Parental Leave in Play: Where Manager and Employee Meet. A summary of findings from the organisational case studies,
Level 2, the Parental Leave in Australia Study - Marian Baird