Key Findings

• At the time of the survey, eight out of ten mothers had work patterns that allowed them to qualify for PPL.
• Two-thirds of employed mothers were fully eligible for PPL and the 52 weeks of extended unpaid leave.
• Well educated, higher earning women in the core labour market were the group most likely to be fully eligible for PPL. This refl ects the eligibility criteria.
• Self-employment was a major reason why working women were ineligible for PPL. Eight in ten self-employed would have been eligible for PPL provision at the time of the survey had the scheme included the self-employed.
• In terms of employed women who were ineligible for leave, two-thirds were ineligible due to the length of time employed and one-third by the hours criteria.
• Casual workers were less likely to be eligible for PPL than permanent workers.
• One-quarter of mothers surveyed had no engagement with the labour market in the six months prior the birth of their child.
• Non-employed mothers were mainly caring for children.

The purpose of this stage of the research was to provide an initial measurement of the behaviour and attitudes towards involvement in parenting and paid work amongst those who have recently had babies. The specific research questions included:

• What proportion of mothers are eligible for PPL?
• What is the uptake of PPL amongst those eligible?
• What is happening when PPL is not taken up?
• What are the reasons for ineligibility?
• What is the engagement with paid work in the months preceding the birth of a baby?
• How does the birth of a baby impact on engagement in paid work?
• What is the awareness and knowledge of the PPL scheme?

This was an environment scan and many of the questions asked in this stage were then refined in light of both the responses obtained in this part of the research and in relation to the qualitative interviews undertaken in Stage 2. This led to a wider set of questions asked in Stage 3, which focussed on the experiences of those parents who, through their labour market attachment, were potentially eligible for PPL. This is because the method of self-reported eligibility in Stage 1 did not provide an accurate indication of eligibility for parental leave because it was not certain that respondents in Stage 1 differentiated between the statutory parental leave or that provided by their employers. This was also borne out by findings from Stage 2. Accordingly, this part of the report focuses on the reasons for some mothers being ineligible for PPL. In the Stage 1 sample of parents, no fathers had taken PPL.

Engagement of mothers in paid work

Stage 1 showed that New Zealand mothers giving birth between December 2004 and May 2005 had quite variable levels of engagement in paid work. At the time of the survey, one-quarter had no engagement with the labour market in the six months prior the birth of their child (Table 1). Non-working mothers were mainly caring for children, with 81 percent at home with family, 5 percent were students, 1 percent were unemployed, 8 percent on a benefit and 5 percent were classified as 'other'.^[4]

Three-quarters of the sampled mothers (76 percent) were in paid employment before having a child. Two-thirds of these mothers were fully eligible, that is eligible for the period of paid leave and the full 52 weeks of extended unpaid leave.

Some characteristics of mothers

Table 2 sets out some characteristics of fully eligible, partly eligible, employed and not eligible, self-employed and those not in paid work. This table shows that those mothers who were fully eligible had the highest personal income but, while the differences were not great, if they were partnered, they did not have the highest partner income. The ineligible employed were less likely to belong to a union and only 22 percent were involved in permanent work versus 85 percent for those fully eligible and 73 percent of those partly eligible. In addition, just under half (48 percent) of those ineligible workers were in casual work versus 6 percent for those fully eligible and 14 percent of those partly eligible. The ineligible workers were also more likely to be multiple jobholders. Only 30 percent of the ineligible workers were in managerial or professional occupations against half of those who were fully eligible for PPL.

While in some areas there were differences between some groups, in many other areas there was little difference in the characteristics of those eligible and not eligible. For example, while the numbers are small, there seemed to be little ethnic differences. The data indicate that there was considerable diversity within each eligibility group.

Overall, this data indicates that well educated, higher earning women in the core labour market were the group most likely to be fully eligible for PPL. This reflects the eligibility criteria

Why were working mothers not eligible for paid parental leave?

At the time of the survey self-employment was a major reason why working women were ineligible for PPL. They accounted for 37 percent of the group of working women who were ineligible. The survey found, however, that 78 percent of self-employed women worked an average of 10 hours per week and employed for six months or more suggesting that the majority of self-employed would become eligible for PPL with the legislation change.^[5]

The survey showed that self-employed women were similar in profile to the eligible working women, except they had the highest proportion of return to work since the birth of their child, and matched the working ineligible in low levels of leave taken before the birth. Overall, the data indicate that eight in ten self-employed would have been eligible for PPL provision at the time of the survey had the scheme been expanded to include the self-employed.

In terms of employed women who were ineligible for leave, amongst those in permanent work or on contract most were ineligible due to the length of time employed (62 percent) followed by the hours criteria (34 percent) (Table 3). Of those in casual work, two-fifths of mothers were made ineligible by length of employment and another two-fifths by hours of work. A further one-fifth was made ineligible because they did not meet either the hours or length criteria. As already indicated, being in casual working patterns was more likely to exclude mothers from qualifying for PPL. Not only did these ineligible mothers exhibit low levels of workplace engagement, however, they also tended to have lower qualification levels, lower personal and household incomes, to have more children and be primary care-givers. The low level of workplace engagement reflects the PPL eligibility criteria. But the lower levels of qualification and income reflect that the more disadvantaged workers tend to miss out on PPL.

Many of these issues were investigated in more detail in Stage 3 of the research.