The maternity leave is paid, except in Australia and USA, the parental leave may be is not paid but last more time.

“In Sweden, women enjoy 16 months paid maternity leave at government expense”

That is a lie, It is at the Tax Payers Expense.

And Sweden has a female suicide rate of 8.5 per 100,000, 70% greater than Australia’s rate of 5 per 100,000.

So if we are to follow Sweden’s example, will it be at the price of increased female suicides?

Does all that paid maternity leave time mean extra time dealing with screaming babies, pushing mothers over the edge of reason?

My personal view is

If you want a baby, do what my ex-wife and I did, work out the real finances first and whether you can afford it. Do not go looking for handouts.

The bottom line, having a baby is no different to owning a car,

If you cannot afford the running costs, don’t get banged up.

and back to being a tax payer, why should I be forced to pay for the product of someone elses sexual dalliances?

Antonios the proposal in the article is for more than "before the birth and immediately after the birth to protect her and the child"

Natasha mentions the figure of 14 weeks on a number of occasions

"we already know that a 14-week government-funded scheme at the minimum wage not only represents the International Labor Organisation standard for support, but would be affordable and avoid burdening small business".

Whilst that period may be necessary for some mothers recovery I expect that in most cases the period you describe would be far shorter than 14 weeks. Leaving aside the overall rights and wrongs of employers and or taxpayers paying for a couples decision to have children there is no need for the government to mandate that primary care over the first few months of a childs life is done my the mother. Thats a decision for the family involved.

R0bert

R0bert
Thank you, and very sorry for my comments, I did not mean you!
1. The 14 weeks is the minimum paid maternity leave for European Countries member of EU. The maternity leave is a must for health reasons, last year my daughter lost her overdue child in Adelaide of cause bad advices from the hospital, One day do not worry the overdue, next day the child died. I mean pregnant and child need the leave.
2. Paid leave
R0bert you are a good person. Why do you put first the money and after the mother and child? IF R0bert all other countries (except USA) can pay the money then we can pay too. We have a whole continent, so rich country, so skilled and hard working persons and you think we will have problems?
3. About employers, small business. Australia is one from the top countries with part time work, with casual work. small business can do it one more time with maternity leave.
4. Who will pay the money?
There are many ways to find the money for paid maternity leave. I will write here a way where we can share the costs, not only the government (taxpayers) not only employers not only employees. For example 50% the government, (in most countries governments pay the whole amount), 30% employers (there are countries where employers pay 100% of the maternity leave) and 20% employees, I victimize them but they will have the benefits and of cause it will help to start running the system.
There is not problem if we increase or decrease a little bit the amount from any part or if we have to pay weekly, monthly or yearly, if...if. We have the statistics, it is a very easy task.
R0bert
If we like to give the maternity leave then we can do it very easily. If Uganda, Albania, Paraguay and Cambodia can pay maternity leave then Australians can do it and AUSTRALIANS CAN DO IT BETTER!

Regards
Antonios Symeonakis
Adelaide

Antonios, "Why do you put first the money and after the mother and child?"

I've got mixed views on the paid aspect of this. My main priority is not to further entrench gender roles into the care of children.

You are aware of the reasons to support paid leave so I'll stick to reasons why I'm not sold on "PAID" parenting leave. No order of priority.
1/ The world is overpopulated as it is, I don't see humanity having a pressing need for increased number.
2/ My priority lies with my son, government funded systems which use my tax dollars to support other peoples choices take away from my priorities.
3/ Tax and government being what they are there is guarenteed to be wastage in the system.
4/ Like a lot of government payments it was not available when my son was born and we paid our own way. Should I now be forced to compound that? Like the first home owners grant, the baby bonus etc I've never received the benefits of these schemes but continue to pay that others might have those benefits.
5/ There are a lot of complications around this. Should we pay extra to the unemployed during that period? If not it would encourage parents who are planning to be full time carers to delay advising employers until the period was us so that they could collect the pay?
6/ On principle I'd rather have the government butt out of my pay packet and let me fund my own priorities. The continued push for more government safety nets results in less real freedom of choice for those who take responsibility for their own choices.

R0bert

ASymeonakis “For example 50% the government, (in most countries governments pay the whole amount), 30% employers (there are countries where employers pay 100% of the maternity leave) and 20% employees”

Lets go through that list of funding sources

20% employees contribution I ask the question again…

“why should I be forced to pay for the product of someone elses sexual dalliances?”

30% employers contribution, I ask the question

Why should my employer not be able to grow his business or pay me more because he is forced to pay for the breeding choices of someone who happens to work for him?

50% from government – now we all know that government is merely the conduit responsible for misdirection of your and my taxes, therefore this is not government funded but you and my funded contributions, the usual socialist lie that government provides for us, when all it really does is burden us with immoral taxes.

Of course the theory is we are going to have jobs and income from which taxes will be extracted to pay for all this maternity leave.

The way things are going Krudd and Co are running us into yet another “Recession we have to have” no one will be able to afford to have more kids, many will not be able to maintain the ones they have got, except of course the fat cat bureaucrats and civil servants who have secure tenure for life.

It is a bleak future when people are no longer held accountable for the children they sire and expect the wider community to subsidise their issue.

Robert “Whilst that period may be necessary for some mothers recovery I expect that in most cases the period you describe would be far shorter than 14 weeks.”

When we compare:
child birth, being a natural act and one for which women were designed
versus
bypass surgery, something which was not “natural” nor was I designed to endure and got a medical certificate for 6 only weeks full and 6 weeks partial for which to claim income protection insurance,

I would concur with your view.