Dialogue: Paid parental leave is not the answer

By SANDY BURGHAM

Last week, on the TV One retrospective, we revelled in seeing Selwyn Toogood and Heather Eggelton guiding a consumer through a money-or-the-bag clincher.

The housewife took a punt on the bag and Eggleton's eyes widened in delight as she announced with excitement: "It's the Pye 26-inch-colour television." The audience applause was deafening; a few people even had tears in their eyes.

Today, consumers think having not just one but three TVs is a social norm and makes good practical sense. The only "bag" that would delight them would be the mortgage being paid off or the Koh-i-noor diamond.

As the cost of living escalates, so do our expectations about the standard of living we require. And it's the threat to our standard of living that lurks in the background whenever paid parental leave rears its head, as it did last week. It complicates the judgment call on what is fair, what is practical and what is plain greedy or unreasonable.

Like many, I see myself as a feminist of the contemporary variety and pro the working mother, but this does not necessarily mean that I think it's a God-given or government-given right for mothers (or fathers) to draw income while looking after babies, as in the legislative scenario under consideration.

Of course, no mother is going to refuse paid parental leave and most would find it hard to vote against it.

But the fact that they do it that way overseas doesn't necessarily make it right. Maybe there is a better way.

The politicians seem to have missed the bigger issue. It's less about whether women can afford to stay at home with the baby - I'm sure we would all make this sacrifice. The real issue is more about whether a woman, as either a primary or secondary income earner, can afford to return to the workforce.

If the objective is to help women with the work/motherhood juggling act, it makes more practical sense to give greater allowances and greater tax advantages to those who are forking out for childcare.

With the well acknowledged gender pay gap this will always be a bigger issue to mums than dads.

Returning to the workforce is now seen as a necessity. Most women who work do it not only to maintain a standard of living but also to stay employable, and it's balancing this against the costs of childcare that they agonise over.

We don't hear too many stories about women who are forced to return to the workforce on day two. In such cases, maybe people should take advantage of the advances in contraception - if they can't afford the baby in the first six weeks they'll be ruined in a few years, when the costs of having a kid really kick in.

What is difficult to articulate in the cut-and-dried environment of parliament is the value of parenthood. Being a parent is a gift and a privilege, not a right. Providing monetary compensation during parental leave seems not only distasteful but also to shift responsibility. Parenthood and employment are incomparable concepts, the value of each not being able to be brought down to one single currency.

While we expect payment for employment, should we expect it for parenting? Parenting is not a job, it's a personal responsibility. The only reason I feel I should be getting something for it is that I am now paying so much tax that I'm miffed if I don't get something back - but this is a grievance with the Government, not employers. The Alliance's idea of getting employers to pay seems naive and myopic and thankfully its plans have been halted.

Has it occurred to the Alliance that, with the vast majority of businesses employing five or fewer people, this simply may be an impractical request, backfiring not only on our burgeoning small business community but also on women themselves? One of the outcomes would be a hesitancy to employ women with childbearing potential.

Six to 12 weeks' paid parental leave is all very pro-family, but doesn't address the issue many a woman faces of not being able to afford to return to the workforce.

Taking the money is very short term. When the funds dry up, she'll still want to buy whatever is in the bag - just try telling her she can't.