Foreword

For two decades, the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 has enabled New Zealand parents to take leave from employment on the birth or adoption of their child. Its precursor, passed in the early 1980s, provided only for maternity leave.

In 2002 the Labour-led government introduced paid parental leave for the first time. Initially it was for a period of 12 weeks, which we increased to 14 weeks in 2005 and extended eligibility to employees who had six months service or more with the same employer. In July 2006, entitlement to 14 weeks paid parental leave was extended to self-employed parents. Today, more than 20,000 parents access Government-funded paid parental leave every year.

The nature of work and families has undergone fundamental change since 1987. New Zealand's labour market has an ageing population and shrinking working-age population, ongoing skill shortages, an increasing number of women in work, the unequal distribution of paid and unpaid work between women and men, and high employment growth.

At the same time, family structures and parenting arrangements have grown more diverse, and today, women tend have fewer children and at a later age. The Choices for Living, Working and Caring Plan of Action sets out our government's goals for addressing these critical issues on behalf of those who balance working and caring responsibilities. Parental leave policies play a vital role in this.

New Zealand, like many developed nations, is seeking to strengthen its statutory leave policies further. Internationally, we're seeing increasing flexibility of leave entitlements, which support family transitions and encourage fathers' access to parental leave.

To test the effectiveness of our parental leave legislation, the Department of Labour conducted an evaluation of the parental leave scheme in 2005/06. The purpose of the evaluation was to find out more about the decision-making and experiences of working parents before, during and after parental leave. The evaluation also examined the experiences of parents ineligible for parental leave, as well as those of fathers and employers. Overall, it found that the scheme enjoys considerable support from mothers, fathers, and employers alike. It also identified areas where parental leave could be improved to better meet the needs of parents and employers.

This report presents the findings of that evaluation and will form the basis of further work on the parental leave scheme. It will also contribute to our growing body of research on how to support parents managing transitions between paid working and caring, and balancing these different responsibilities. A more integrated leave framework and streamlined parental leave scheme will better support the quality of the social and economic life, and health, of New Zealanders in the long-term.

HON. RUTH DYSON Minister of Labour

May 2007