Paid Maternity Leave Newspoll discussion

The results showed a widespread general support for a paid maternity leave scheme in Australia. This was true of all demographic categories, though particularly strong among those in the age group most likely to have children. The strong support by men suggests that men recognise the impact on family finances and well being when their wives and partners lose their income from employment.

It is interesting and encouraging to note that there is a strong level of support even among those who are unlikely to benefit directly, such as older people, those who have already had their children and those not in the workforce.

More surprising was the level of support for funding principles involving contributions by employers and employees. There has been very little discussion of such proposals in the Australian context although that is the predominant funding arrangement in other countries. In Australia the nearest parallels in public policy are workers compensation and superannuation, but there are significant differences between those schemes and application of this principle to paid maternity leave.

Again this support was there among groups who would be likely to contribute but unlikely to benefit. The least supported option was that it should be entirely funded by workers. Clearly the most favoured option was of the cost being shared by all employers, all employees and the Commonwealth Government.

While the three opinion statements could be expected to be supported, because they were to some degree ‘motherhood’ statements, the interesting finding was in the strength of the support. It is usual for respondents to give a more cautious reply to survey questions, preferring ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’ or ‘strongly disagree’. In this survey it is noteworthy that the proportion ‘strongly agreeing’ with each statement was over half of all respondents, while the proportion strongly disagreeing was negligible.

The results provide evidence that the Australian electorate would respond warmly to any initiative by Governments to investigate the possibilities for a National paid maternity leave scheme.