Families Left Behind
Dear Editor,
We all know that family dynamics, and working dynamics vary a lot for every household; whether one partner is working full time and the other is studying and taking care of the house, rearing after children, or unable to work for whatever other reason.
However, something which was recently raised to be as an issue and a concern, was that in an effort to increase uptake of paternal leave, the government’s decision to axe ‘Father leave’ and create a shared leave model which unsurprisingly has actually created disadvantage to families who don’t meet the mould of having both parents working before the pregnancy.
When one partner (birth mother) doesn’t qualify for the payments, then unlike before – the father doesn’t qualify either. Which means despite the intention of the policy to increase the time Fathers spent with their partner and new baby, this has unintentionally decreased the viability for many fathers to do so.
Without re-introducing the payment scheme for fathers, it is a simple fix to create a seperate qualifying category for fathers to still be able to access a limited amount of leave following the birth of their children.
Supporting the family unit at a societal level; regardless of what that looks like, is essential, especially with the increasing cost of living for families, and what can often be a strained recovery after birth.
When government policies changes actually exclude parents who have different life circumstances, there’s clearly room for improvement.
Rowan Farren.
