If President Trump follows through on his campaign promise, new mothers may soon have six weeks of guaranteed paid leave. But something is keeping them from using the benefits they already have.
In times of budgetary constraint, the cost of Australia's welfare system has been regarded by many in the Coalition as a drag on economic growth. Labor's Jenny Macklin has a different take.
Australian government proposals to ban so-called “double dipping” with paid parental leave (PPL) risks scaling back health benefits for women who take time off to care for their babies.
South African law requires surrogate mothers to hand infants to their legal parents without undue delay. But it doesn’t provide leave for these parents to care for their infants. That is set to change.
New and expectant parents are among the biggest losers in this year’s budget. From July 2016 primary carers will lose access to government paid parental leave if their workplace also provides leave.
Scott Morrison’s appointment as minister for social services in late December 2014 has been seen as an important step for the Abbott government as it moves towards its second budget. The tasks he faces…
Tony Abbott will finally and reluctantly declare his dream of a “bigger, better” paid parental leave (PPL) scheme is “off the table”, in a speech that has become crucial to staving off the mounting pressure…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed over the weekend that he will use the parliamentary summer break to review his paid parental leave (PPL) scheme, which has so far proven to be a large political liability…
At the end of this month Australia’s Productivity Commission will issue the final report of its inquiry into Early Childhood Education and Care. The inquiry was limited from the outset by the requirement…
The travails of Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme are symptomatic of the government’s wider problems. The Prime Minister says he won’t abandon the plan, adding that he doesn’t break promises. That’s…
The Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning shows the serious limitations of market economics for analysing social policy. The report’s 900-plus pages offer a collection…
As Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme continues to be a millstone around the government’s neck, a new book reveals that he briefed Rupert Murdoch in detail on the plan before taking it to his party…
The Productivity Commission has issued a challenge to Tony Abbott by saying that some funds from his expensive proposed paid parental leave scheme should be redirected to child care. In its Childcare and…
Let’s face it, for an academic it had been a long time since there was too much to get passionate about in Federal politics. The latter Howard years were more of the same and the joy of the Rudd “education…
Professor David Choquenot, Director of the Institute for Applied Ecology at University of Canberra, speaks to Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan about the week in politics including the Prime Minister’s…
Joe Hockey’s first budget does not contain much tax reform, in spite of headlines on the “temporary budget repair levy”. It does contain some very big cuts to spending in the short and longer term - consistent…