No Loss To Pay Rate After Maternity Leave - Report
10 September 2012 at 11:05 am
A report from the University of Melbourne has shown that there is almost no impact in salary loss to Australian women who take paid maternity leave.
Dr Barbara Hanel from the University of Melbourne Faculty of Business and Economics researched the extent employer-provided paid maternity leave prolongs a mother’s absence from work and if their earning capacity suffers as a result.
“There is virtually zero impact on long-term employment or wages after the child’s first birthday,” Hanel said.
“Short, paid maternity leave costs little and has virtually zero long-term costs in terms of mothers’ labour market position,” Dr Hanel said.
Hanel’s research found mothers who were not eligible for employer provided leave were almost twice as likely to return to work before the child was six months.
In contrast, mothers with employer provided entitlements usually returned to work when their child was between six months and two years old.
Hanel said those women commonly returned to more highly paid jobs.
“They’re also typically older, better educated, and work more hours in larger companies,” she said.
Under the Federal Government’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme new parents are eligible to receive the minimum wage for up to 18 weeks.
Hanel’s work is published in the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
