Parental Leave in New Zealand 2005/2006 Evaluation
Long Description for Figure 1: The landscape of mothers with babies aged 14-17 months
Figure one illustrates the impact that differing levels of awareness of paid parental leave (PPL) and the eligibility of taking PPL has on the actions taken by mothers in regards to the uptake of taking leave and the likelihood of returning to work.
Of the total sample, 75% were in paid work and of this 75%, 80% were eligible for PPL. The final 25% did not participate in paid work.
Of the 80% that were eligible for PPL, 83% took PPL – 56% of this 83% took extended leave, 40% took paid leave only and the rest took less than their paid entitlement. Of this group, 80% returned to work, on average, when their child was 7.5 months of age (the ideal age of their child that the mother would like to return to work was identified at 12.7 months).This group had a 100% awareness level of PPL.
7% of the eligible for PPL group did not take PPL but took another type of leave – mainly annual or unpaid leave. Of this group 75% returned to work on average, when their child was 7.8 months of age (ideal was identified at 11.1 months of age). The awareness rate of PPL amongst this group was 96%.
The final group (10%) of those who were eligible for PPL did not take any leave. Of this 10%, 45% resigned from their job, 10% either took up a contract or casual position or became self-employed, 8% had no other leave entitlement, 5% took redundancy, 3% returned to work immediately and the final 11% took some other course of action. In this group, 55% returned to work, on average, when their child was at 6.5 months of age (ideal was identified at 15.9 months of age). The awareness rate of PPL amongst this group was 85%.
Of the 20% who were ineligible for PPL, 29% took another type of leave, usually unpaid. Of this 29%, 97% returned to work, on average, when their child was 4.7 months of age (ideal was identified at 11 months of age). The awareness rate of PPL amongst this group was 97%.
The final 71% of this 20% ineligible group took no leave. Of this 71%, 33% resigned, 10% took up a contract position, 22% took up a casual position, 25% became self-employed, 3% took redundancy, 4% returned to work immediately and the final 1% took some other course of action. Of this group, 59% returned to work when, on average, their child was 5.8 months of age (ideal was identified at 14.9 months of age). The awareness rate of PPL amongst this group was 87%.
Overall (mothers with babies aged 14-17 months of age), 76% returned to work and a further 14% intended to return to work within the next five years. The average age of the child upon the mother’s return to work was 6.9% while the ideal identified age was 13.1 months.