Working mums demand fairer maternity payments
More that 30,000 mums and dads are missing out on government-funded parental leave each year due to the eligibility test. Now working mums are calling for an overhaul of taxpayer-funded maternity payments.
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Working mums want the federal government to overhaul its taxpayer-funded maternity payments, claiming the current system disadvantages families where the woman is the primary breadwinner.
New modelling provided to the Sunday Herald Sun reveals more that 30,000 mums and dads are missing out on government-funded parental leave each year because the eligibility is based on the wage of the mum not the dad.
The scheme is designed so that new mums receive about $740 a week over 18 weeks after having a baby if they earnt less than $150,000 in the previous 12 months, regardless of what their partner earnt. But when the gender roles are reversed and the woman earns more than $150,000 a year, the family is no longer eligible, meaning thousands of stay-at-home dads are missing out.
The new modelling reveals up to 7000 women and more than 27,000 men were ineligible for parenting payments last year, primarily because the woman earnt a higher wage than her husband.
Facing pressure from female MPs, the Sunday Herald Sun understands the government has been working on changing the policy since before the 2019 election.
Mother of one Catherine, 36, was working as a lawyer in 2018 when she had her first child. As the primary breadwinner, Catherine was earning more than $200,000 while her husband earnt less than the $150,000 threshold, meaning the family was ineligible for government-funded maternity leave. She said the payment should be based on a family’s collective salary — even if that meant her family would miss out.
“It seems unfair to me,” she said. “It’s based solely on the mother’s wage but if it was the other way around, and my husband earnt more, I would have received the payments.
“I had always assumed we wouldn’t get assistance as we were high income earners but this unfairly affects a lucky group of women who are working hard.”
Catherine said the majority of female lawyers would be earning more than $150,000 by the time they had a baby and would be excluded from taxpayer-funded help, regardless of what their partner earnt.
Her argument is supported by the Women Barristers’ Association, which has appealed to the government to change the system.
A spokesperson for Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the minister was “always open to looking at ways to better support families as they enter parenthood”.
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