Erin Molan: It’s not just mums who benefit from paid parental leave

Let’s invest in more paid parental leave, writes Erin Molan, because it’s not just mum, dad and the baby who benefit — it strengthens our nation’s future.

A revelation this week that will surprise few. Evidence shows that staying home with your newborn longer is better for baby and mother.

So doctors are pushing for paid parental leave to be extended to 12 months.

No arguments from me, just the fairly obvious question of who pays and how much are we, as a society, prepared to pay for the best adjusted, best prepared for the rigours of day-to-day living children in the world?

A Harvard study reveals developing children form more than one million new neural connections every second in the first few years of life, and that the brain is 90 per cent fully ­developed by age five.

Pretty confronting information for mums and dads sitting around the kitchen table with the family budget, or a career plan, deciding the length of parental leave that’s best for their precious new bub and best for them.

Adequate paid parental leave benefits everyone, not just mum and bub.

And if these mums and dads happen to be self-employed, or employers determining a leave entitlement that will apply to an entire workforce, then financial considerations become even more complex.

My issue with all of this, while great in theory, is that even if by some miracle the government decided to extend all paid maternity leave to 12 months — that it imposes upon others by legislation and that it funds itself — it wouldn’t solve all the ensuant problems generated in our communities.

The financial aspect is just one element of a myriad of challenges faced when it comes to workforce absences.

Many of these questions apply personally to the parents themselves, a prime example being depleted super balances.

In the 2019-20 financial year, nearly 55,000 women in NSW lost around $70 million in super contributions from their periods of paid parental leave.

One thing that can’t really be measured by stats and numbers is the pressure women feel.

Opinion writer Erin Molan. Picture: Tim Hunter.

For many women who are parents of very young children, working is a necessity, not a choice. For many, our careers are incredibly important, not just as a way of supporting ourselves and our families, but they’re deeply fulfilling and the product of many years of blood, sweat and tears.

Traditionally it’s been women who have left the workforce to undertake child-caring at home and, anec­dotally, the impression remains that they still pay a high professional price to do it.

I fell in love with work at 21 years of age, and up until having my ­daughter it was the most important thing in my life.

Becoming pregnant with Eliza was the greatest blessing I’ve had, but it was also challenging. I was apprehensive about telling bosses.

I was worried about the impact it would have on me professionally. I was nervous about the years of sacrifice and hard work going to waste, which sounds awful but I know I wasn’t alone in that feeling.

Eliza’s dad didn’t share those fears, I’m told most dads don’t. That’s not a dig at men, that’s just the way it ­generally is.

I went back to work 4½ weeks after my daughter was born.

At the time I was only entitled to six weeks paid maternity leave and I’d stopped work a week before Eliza was born. I was lucky in many ways because I was able to go into work for two- or three-hour sessions and then come home.

I remember sitting on the set of The Footy Show leaking milk, pumping in dressing rooms, still being sore from my emergency C-section and feeling riddled with guilt.

When I saw this report it made me reflect on my situation and whether or not I’d have done anything differently if a longer entitlement to paid leave had been offered.

Why did I go back so early? Money was definitely a factor but not the only one … not by a long shot.

I was told by my then boss to take as much time as I needed but I felt pressure. I worried that if I was away too long then I’d lose ground. I’d worked so hard for so long.

I refused to take holidays for years, worried that I’d miss an opportunity, worried about the consequences of being absent, of losing contemporary credentials.

When making this decision, women must factor in not only financial disadvantage but the dynamic ­nature of the workplace they leave and the changes they might come back to – this is especially true where there is a significant dimension of competition that is part of the culture, or roles, within the workplace.

When it comes to global standards we don’t have much to be proud of in this country. Within the developed world only America offers less when it comes to paid parental leave.

The case for improving the situation is convincing. The evidence shows that exclusive parental care benefits mum, dad and bub and, down the track, kids are more likely to be employed, earn higher wages and raise happy families themselves.

All of which will directly and ­indirectly improve Australia’s bottom line.

Let’s hope that some time in the future we can all participate in the ­exquisite delight of caring for our young children in a way that we choose, supremely confident that it won’t be at the expense of professional pursuits because, as the evidence shows, it won’t just benefit us but the whole nation.