Family Futures

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nsuring

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amily

alance

with other combinations of parental employment. These patterns

vary by the age of the youngest child, with the proportion of dual

full-time employment families increasing and male breadwin-

ner families declining as children grow older. In 2011, 36 per

cent of mothers of children aged under 18 years were employed

part-time and 25 per cent full-time, while 29 per cent of mothers

with a youngest child aged under three years were employed

part-time, compared to 12 per cent full-time.

One of the ways to ensure balance between work and family

is by the use of family-friendly workplace policies and prac-

tices. Fostering a culture of workplace flexibility for family

responsibilities can also help to achieve a more produc-

tive work environment through reduced absenteeism and

improved job satisfaction.

Flexible work is made accessible to workers with family

responsibilities in Australia through the National Employment

Standards (NES) of the Fair Work Act 2009. The NES are

legislated minimum employment standards and entitlements,

and include provisions intended to directly support work and

family balance such as flexible working arrangements and

family-friendly workplace arrangements.

Other standards that apply to workers more generally under

the Fair Work Act include a limit on maximum working hours

and access to different types of leave including entitlements to

unpaid parental leave, and paid and unpaid personal/carer’s leave.

In addition, many employers provide their employees with more

generous employment conditions than those under the NES to

encourage productivity increases and employee retention.

Overall, there is considerable variability across occupa-

tions and industries with respect to conditions. Thus, some

workers are likely to face more challenges reconciling their

work-family commitments than others. In fact, research by

the Centre of Work+Life at the University of South Australia

has shown that many workers are unaware of their right to

request flexible work as set out in the NES.

There is ongoing policy interest in better understanding

which jobs are difficult for men and women to balance with

family responsibilities and the characteristics of those who

have these jobs. In particular, the ability to reconcile work

and family is likely to be more difficult for the 22 per cent

of Australian families with children aged under 18 years that

are headed by a single parent, most typically the mother,

though children in these families may also live part of the

time with a father living elsewhere. Compared to couple

mothers, single mothers have lower rates of employment,

especially those with children under school age. Different

employment rates may also be related to differences in

educational attainment, wages, abilities to combine work

with caring for children, and access to informal childcare

networks. The role of government support is also important,

especially as single mothers are more likely to be in receipt

of income support payments and are thus more likely to face

financial disincentives to work due to the interaction of the

income support system with wages. There has been some

narrowing of the gap in the employment rates of single and

couple mothers over the years shown, especially for mothers

of school-aged children, which may reflect that mothers can

no longer remain on income support until children are aged

16 years without being required to look for work.

Successive Australian governments have taken steps to make

sure the costs of childcare are affordable for families and have

introduced reforms to ensure nationally consistent quality

childcare standards for children in the critical early years of

their development. To support childcare affordability and assist

parents to participate in the workforce without the cost of child-

care being a barrier, the Government also provides childcare

fee assistance for families, using both approved and regis-

tered childcare, through the Childcare Benefit and Childcare

Rebate payments. Jobs, Education and Training Childcare

Fee Assistance provides extra help with the cost of approved

childcare to parents if they are on an eligible income support

payment, are studying, working, looking for work or getting the

training and skills they need to enter or return to the workforce.

Participation in formal childcare (including preschool) is

especially common among children under primary school

age, although such care is less often used for the youngest

children. Participation in formal care is lower among children

of school age, reflecting that many mothers seek part-time

working hours that fit within school hours, avoiding the

need for formal outside-school-hours care. Informal care

remains an important form of care across all ages of children

in Australia. Informal childcare is most commonly provided

by grandparents, though many of these grandparents could

increasingly face their own work-family challenges.

Over the two decades since the inaugural International Year

of the Family, Australian families have confronted major chal-

lenges in balancing work and family life, with rapid shifts in

the roles and responsibilities of men and women, the increas-

ing availability of new technological capabilities and changes

in the organization and distribution of paid work. As described

here, the Australian Government has continued to help fami-

lies to manage these challenges through the development and

implementation of a range of policies. Supporting families as

they balance the challenges and opportunities of contemporary

work and family life remains an enduring priority for Australia.

PPL reforms

The Australian Government’s introduction of a new PPL scheme

(based on full wage replacement for 26 weeks) from July 2015 will

better help women to take the time out of the workforce they need

to establish a family. The scheme will bring Australia into line with

PPL practices the world over where payments are based on the

mother’s actual wages.

The new PPL will better recognize that a family’s financial

responsibilities increase when a new child is born, allowing women

to have children at the time they choose rather than being forced

to postpone having children for financial reasons. Under these

arrangements fathers will be eligible to take two out of the 26

weeks as dedicated paternity leave so they can help with their new

baby. Fathers will also be able to nominate to be the primary carer

of the baby.

The new scheme is consistent with recommendations from the

World Health Organization that the minimum period of exclusive

care, bonding and breastfeeding for optimal maternal and infant

health outcome is six months.

PPL not only benefits families, but also society at large, through

lower long-term health costs and long-run productivity benefits.

Keeping women more engaged in the workforce also helps to raise

a more healthy and productive future workforce.