Paid Maternity Leave

Paid Maternity Leave is something I have been very passionate about. Particularly with my third child where I received no maternity leave, wasn't eligible for the baby bonus by a small margin (as the Rudd government brought in means testing) and at the end of the 12 months leave, was made redundant from my part-time role (luckily I got a new job the next day!) Let's put it this way Mum's and careers haven't been given a fair go in the past and it is still continuing to occur! Let's hope that the new schemes that have been put forward will help a lot of mother's and families to spend a bit more time at home with their new additions and allow them to keep there employment.

This is the letter I wrote to the previous PM Mr Rudd prior to the Parental Leave Scheme being approved......

Sent to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd 25 March 2009

I am expecting my third child and currently work part-time. I am disappointed to find out that the maternity payment is now means tested and I will not be eligible for any payment. I will not receive any maternity leave payments from my employer just the statuatory 12 months unpaid leave. So as a result of the government's change I am not going to receive any financial assistance for my third child even though I received the payment previously. This payment was a great help to my family’s budget and helped to pay the bills while I was on unpaid maternity leave. I may be forced to go back to work within the first twelve months of the birth of my third child as a result of this change. It is very unfair and most families appreciate this assistance and many will now miss out. I was under the impression that this payment was in lieu of any government/employer funded maternity leave payments. So much for fair rights for women! We have all of the same hospital expenses we have incurred for our first two children as well as the costs of extra car seats etc. these will now greatly burden our family budget while I have no income during my maternity leave. Very disappointed! I thought that you wanted to help working families? Our family is definitely at a disadvantage as a result of the government’s decision.

Please find below a letter I sent to the Australian Women’s Weekly back in June 2008 in regards to maternity leave which my interest you.

Dear Woman’s Weekly,
I am writing in, to put forward some of my thoughts on the great maternity leave debate! I am a mother of two and currently work part-time. With my first child I received no paid maternity leave. I did however receive the first rollout of the baby bonus. I returned to work part-time in between my first and second child, and because the company I had worked for had been taken over by a UK company, I was given 6 weeks maternity leave at a part-time rate.
There are so many reasons that women should be entitled to paid maternity leave. For most absences from work, there is some sort of paid leave and why should having a baby be any different? Firstly I believe that some government professions such as teaching and nursing require staff to work no later than 36 weeks gestation due to legislation/WPHS; their may also be some restrictions on the timeframe for returning to work for these same WPHS reasons.
I would think that most women if given a choice would prefer at the very minimum to not return to work in the first 6-12weeks after the birth of their child, to allow their recovery and to care for their new born. Women are usually not entitled to take any accrued sick leave for their maternity leave absence from work, and whilst they are not sick spend at least 2 days in hospital as a minimum.
Women are forced to use their annual leave and long service leave in the absence of paid maternity leave. Some employers, whilst they offer paid maternity leave, they do not pay the full amount until the employees return to work even though they have given a full year (12months) of service prior to the commencement of maternity leave.
Australia is one of only a few countries in the OECD who don’t offer some sort of Paid Maternity Scheme and although we have had the baby bonus for the last 4 years - this will now be means tested so that many hard working families will not receive this.
I support both stay at home and working mothers. Both of these groups of women work equally hard to nurture the Australian adults of the future. So I propose for stay at home mothers to continue to receive the baby bonus even if it is paid in installments rather than a lump sum amount and should be equivalent to a minimum of 12 weeks paid leave. For working mums to be - why can’t they receive a tax refund in lieu of the baby bonus equivalent to 12 weeks paid maternity leave? That way it is not seen as a burden to the tax payer but a way to help all Australian families.
In the process this may encourage women to return to the workplaces they are leaving behind and we may even give women the right to choose when they return to the workplace, rather than being forced because of their financial situation. Sadly the majority of many working women’s pay goes towards their hefty childcare fees.
I believe the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA), has told the Productivity Commission's inquiry into paid maternity leave that primary care-givers should be given 28 weeks paid leave, including two weeks before a birth.
Interesting times ahead! And I haven’t even mentioned how difficult it is for women to find part-time work in a professional capacity at the end of their maternity leave or the fact we need a change of mindset from employers for more flexible working arrangements for parents and a more practical approach for the provision of childcare.
Thanks for a great read and please keep us informed on the fight for paid maternity leave in Australia.


PS I read this great article on the ninemsn website - this might be of great interest to your readers:
http://optuszoo.news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=578071&rss=yes&_cobr=optus

I look forward to hearing your feedback and am hopeful that something will be done to bring maternity leave or a fair baby bonus for all mothers to fruition - despite the current economic crisis. There is no excuse for not moving forward in this area.

Yours faithfully,

Here is the Schemes for your perusal - The media really haven't given the public an in depth probe into these schemes and the pros and cons. So here are the links so you can see for yourself:

Labour Party Scheme

http://www.familyassist.gov.au/payments/family-assistance-payments/paid-parental-leave-scheme/working-parents-eligibility.html#5

Coalition Scheme

http://www.liberal.org.au/~/media/Files/Policies%20and%20Media/Community/Paid%20Parental%20Leave.ashx

It looks as though Maternity Leave payments will finally come to fruition and no matter who wins the election on August 21, the real winners are families who are about to embark on their next family member in 2011!

Who am I kidding? The blog I didn't have time to write

I constantly have ideas popping into my head of great posts to make and I jot them down on post its, in my one of three notebooks and on old business cards I carry around in what I call a handbag (really a bag with so much stuff I can't find anything in it type!) and also in my mobile. But getting the time to blog them is really rather hard. When I started my blog I was a mum of two, had just started a new part time job after my second lot of UNPAID maternity leave and thought my life while hectic, was going to move in a new direction. Well that certainly was the case, but not quite in the way I had expected. My best friend decided to move O.S. There were lots of farewell do's and I also scored her sofa bed, so decided to turn our spare room where the relies come to stay into more of a play room. That way we still had a place for people to sleep if they stayed over. The room took a while to get organised as we ebayed the old bed etc. This led into Christmas, Christmas parties, shopping and a holiday at the beach. I also had a goal to start to get into better shape. So what better way to start than a brisk walk, with a little jogging on the beach each morning. The problem with this however was I felt terrible. The festive wine tasted terrible, I felt really sick each morning, then I started to feel sick at every meal time. This just wasn't right. A girlfriend urged me to take a pregnancy test but I wasn't hopeful given we had received fertility treatment with our first two children. I took the test on New Years Day and to my utter shock and excitement baby number three was on the way. What a wonderful Gift! Now this explains my utter slackness in 2009 as I dealt with the worst all day "Morning sickness" the most intense of my three pregnancies. Who was I kidding I had created the blog I didn't have time to write! Well I have another years worth of invaluable insight to give and would love to share. Even if it has taken a little while to get back to it as they say. I have just gone back to work after my third lot of UNPAID maternity leave to another new Part-Time job. I am looking forward to this challenge juggling work, home life and enjoying every minute (well mostly) of the time I spend with my three tiddlypeeps.

Contemplating the next Birthday Cake

My third tiddlypeep is turning 1. I can't believe how fast the year has flown! Once again it is the countdown to the birthday celebrations with family and friends. And the big decision what to do for the cake? I am thinking a big cupcake. Not too tricky but a little different. I have bought some icing roses, edible glitter dust to decorate the cake. This will be the 9th cake that I will embark on for my three kids. A great place to search for ideas is Google. Just type in the theme, character or item such as "Butterfly" or "Buzz Light Year" and you will be overwhelmed with all of the fabulous ideas people have shared on the web. I thought I would post the pics of all of the Birthday Cakes I have made so far to help out with ideas. Start collecting your ideas a couple of weeks prior so you can obtain all of the lollies, colouring etc you need prior to the day or so before when you embark on the cake making and decorating. I usually make the cake in the afternoon and ice the night before the party. For a little less stress order your sponge cake/slab from a supermarket for less hassle. The Belle & Snow White cakes are icecream, very easy to make! Use a dolly varden tin line with cling film and baking paper and freeze the icecream of your choice in it a few days prior. The morning you need the cake and hollow out the top so you can insert your doll (a doll with removable legs is ideal) then ice with a cream and icing sugar mix (checkout the Women's Weekly children's birthday cake books for tips) pop back in the freezer minus the doll until just prior to serving. I wrap the doll in cling film or paper towel ice the body and pop in the fridge. Then I pop the two together just before I put the candles in and present to the Birthday princess. So goodluck with your birthday cake creation! The joy on your little persons face is worth the late night before - I am usually up till midnight as usual. PS In all your excitement about making the cake don't forget to wrap their birthday gifts!