Australia’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme

3. What Paid Parental Leave will achieve

The Productivity Commission analysed the available evidence and concluded a scheme similar to the one the Government has adopted would have a number of significant positive benefits. These include:

increasing the average length of leave taken by employed women after childbirth by around 10 weeks. Coupled with other leave arrangements, this was estimated to allow most infants to be exclusively cared for by a parent for the first six months of life (without undue financial stress), improve child development outcomes, enhance support for breastfeeding with its health benefits for mothers and infants, and provide a reasonable period of leave for maternal recovery from childbirth;
encouraging increased workforce participation for women prior to having children and between pregnancies. The average Australian woman’s lifetime period of employment may be extended by between two to six months. There is expected to be a long-term increase in labour supply in industries that predominantly employ women; and
changing community attitudes by sending a strong signal that having a child and taking leave from work around the time of the birth or adoption is part of the normal course of work and family life.

“There is compelling evidence of child and maternal health and welfare benefits from a period of absence from work for the primary caregiver of around six months and a reasonable prospect that longer periods (nine to twelve months) are beneficial.”

Productivity Commission Inquiry Report, Paid Parental Leave: Support for Parents with Newborn Children, February 2009

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