Maternity Leave/Allowance

I really can't see any need for paid maternity leave.

If people want to have kids they just need to plan it. and make sure they have some savings, and a bit of leave saved up.

Tysonboss1 said:

Think about it mate, the Australian worker is quite well paid / hour + the working week is limited to 38 hours and pentaly rates apply for any work above this rate.

+ out of the 7.6 hours of paid work comes a number of paid breaks, + In australia we have lots of public holidays where they are paid when the don't even turn up + 20 days annual leave every year + leave loading where the wage is increased by 17% for the 20 days annual leave + we give Aussie workers 5 sick days + if we keep a worker for 10 years we have to give them 3 months paid leave in addition to all the other leave. + the 9% super contribution.

Click to expand...

+ I get 10 days sick leave a year (cumulative) + 1 week paternal leave (or 2 weeks half pay) + special leave (non-cumulative) + compassionate leave (non-cumulative) + if I pay 5% of my wage into standard contributions, I get a 12.75% employer super contribution .

Tysonboss1 said:

Needles to say if some one objects to me asking a question in an interveiw they probally will not get the job.

Click to expand...

I agree with the sentiment, but you need to be aware that it isn't how the person reacts to the question in the interview; if they dont get the job, they can launch a discrimination case against you! Our business was involved in recruitment for a couple of years!

Originally posted by Julia
The problem with this brilliant idea is that the $5000 has encouraged young women who have no idea what to do with their lives, who have often not finished school, to see the whole $5000 as some sort of magic solution to the dullness of their existence. They have never worked and don't really plan to.
So they become 'career mums'. If a single mother has three or four children her sole parent pension plus rent assistance is considerably more per week than the earnings of a lot of working people.

So are these young women going to model the behaviour to their children which will result in taxpaying adults to support the future ageing population?
Unlikely. They will for the most part be another generation on welfare and, far from relieving the tax burden, will.

Click to expand...

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the birth rate has actually dropped in that demographic after the introduction of the baby bonus.



Note that 1995 (pre baby bonus) had a higher birth rate for young women aged between 15 and 19 years

Happy said:

Sooner we realise that we need to have negative population growth the better.

Of course we can run out of crude oil, we can run out of food first to see it as necessary component of our future.

Click to expand...

eh? you're kidding right?

The Federal Government has put its paid maternity leave scheme on hold. Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner confirmed there will be no funding for the scheme in this year’s ravaged federal budget.

The plan, recommended by the Productivity Commission, would have provided government funding for 18 weeks of maternity leave pay at minimum wage rates, although employers would be forced to continue providing superannuation contributions.

Council of Small Businesses of Australia chair Bob Stanton argues scrapping the scheme will leave SMEs better off.

“Small business had supported the concept of paid maternity leave as long as it was fully funded by government. When it made the announcement it was going to consider bringing in paid maternity leave, but all businesses were going to have to pay it and claim it off the ATO and whoever, and they were still going to have to cover superannuation and guaranteed payments, we did not agree with the decision on that at all.

“Scrapping the thing altogether is a relief for small business,” he says, but argues the concept is still good in theory.

But the Government has come under criticism from Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, who says the scheme should remain.

“A paid maternity leave scheme can only provide a positive impact on the economy, particularly over the long term.”

Paid maternity leave is just one Government program to come under the axe. While the Government says it will keep all election promises, any proposals made afterwards will likely be scaled back.

Hmmmmmmmmm ... sound familiar?

Paid maternity leave is just one Government program to come under the axe.

Click to expand...

How easy could that have been exploited? Get employed and then get pregnant. 4 1/2 months steady income guaranteed and continued employment afterward. Talk about a soft touch. Sheesh.

This will probably be an unpopular view, but I'd put the government's scrapping of this scheme into the "Failures and Achievements of the Rudd government" in the "Achievements" category.

I'm happy that my tax dollars will not be paying for people to have their own children. Subsidising the childcare is bad enough.

Julia said:

This will probably be an unpopular view, but I'd put the government's scrapping of this scheme into the "Failures and Achievements of the Rudd government" in the "Achievements" category.

I'm happy that my tax dollars will not be paying for people to have their own children. Subsidising the childcare is bad enough.

Click to expand...

It's definitely a failure, but a failure I'm happy about. If you want kids, pay for the damn things yourself.

Hmmm I see both sides of the argument but I guess I was "for" the paid maternity leave.

Its almost impossible to pay a morgage on one income these days. And thats without talking about a million dollar house or anything extravegant.

Even a $400K morgage is going to be upwards of $600/week.
My partner works fulltime now and wants to work full time after she has a baby...its just that small window in between thats going to be tough.

I think Australia is putting it into the too hard basket and is behind the rest of the OECD nations.

For a country that had so much wealth thanks to China and our resources...what are we doing with all the money we make?
The government would rather boost the population with immigration. I'm against that idea.

fimmwolf said:

eh? you're kidding right?

Click to expand...

Many in Africa wouldn’t take your comment seriously either.

And with growing global population one day with little bit more dust than recently in Europe, we all might share their plight.

(Hope not of course)

Happy said:

Many in Africa wouldn’t take your comment seriously either.

And with growing global population one day with little bit more dust than recently in Europe, we all might share their plight.

(Hope not of course)

Click to expand...

Time to choose a pill man. The blue pill or the red pill? But remember ....

"The pill you take is part of a trace program. It's designed to disrupt your input/output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location."