Background

Internationally, the development of parental leave policies has a long history (Callister and Galtry, 2006). In New Zealand, maternity leave legislation was first passed in the 1980s. This legislation provided job protection to eligible mothers on the birth or adoption of a child but provided no period of paid leave. Subsequently, the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 extended coverage to women and their spouses/ partners to take leave from employment but again with no payment.

In 2002, the Act was extended with the introduction of 12 weeks paid parental leave (PPL). In 2004, the Act was amended again to extend the duration of PPL to 14 weeks and the eligibility criteria were relaxed. In July 2006, PPL was extended to the self-employed.

Since parental leave policies were first introduced in Europe in the late 1800s, and even within the period that job protection for parental leave has been available in New Zealand, there have been significant changes in fertility levels and age of childbearing; education levels, particularly for women; as well as family arrangements for both men and women (Callister et al, 2006; Didham, 2006).

All these factors can affect labour participation, or are themselves affected by changes in the labour market. In New Zealand, labour participation rates for women are at an historic high (Callister, 2005; Johnston, 2005). Most women are now employed at some stage before having a first child and a high proportion after having children. A number of recent studies, however, indicate much diversity in mother's attitudes to being in paid work when children are young (Gendall and Fawthorpe, 2006; Ministry of Social Development, 2006; Equal Employment Opportunities Trust, 2005; Families Commission, 2005; McPherson, 2006a). Some mothers would rather be at home fulltime with their children and are employed primarily through financial need, others are in paid work because they actively choose this option. Just as there is now a variety of employment arrangements for women and attitudes to paid work, there has also been an increasing variety of employment patterns for men including, to some degree, fathers of young children (Callister 2005).

In parallel to these changes, there is some indication that there is an increasing diversity in employment arrangements (Butcher 2002; Tucker 2002). While many people work as full time employees in permanent jobs, important other employment arrangements are casual work, short-term contracts, part-time work, multiple job holding and self-employment. In addition, for employees, there is considerable diversity in employer type. While some New Zealanders work in large organisations, a significant number work in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) (Mills and Timmins, 2004).

Given the changes in families and in work, it is not surprising that the primary objectives of the Act have also evolved over time. The key objectives of the Act and subsequent amendments are:

• Gender equity within the labour market with increased female labour force retention and the opportunity to return to paid work without disadvantage to position or pay.
• Gender equity within families with fathers sharing leave and caring responsibilities.
• Improved health outcomes for both mother and child with a mother being able to recover from childbirth, bond with a new baby and return to work without negative consequences to her health and that of her child.
• Income stability for families to provide a period of financial security during the leave period.

The key interventions in the Act designed to achieve the outcomes lie in six main areas. These include the provision of:

• maternity leave to eligible mothers
• extended leave that can be shared between eligible spouses/partners
• unpaid partners/paternity leave
• job protection during a period of parental leave
• 14 weeks payment during the period of maternity leave to the mother (which may be transferred to an eligible spouse/partner)
• criteria providing access to entitlements under the Act to people with a degree of workplace attachment.