Media Release
December 8 2006
Academic critical of work and family report
A response to Balancing Work and Family: Report on the inquiry into balancing work and family, House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Family and Human Services, December 2006
Commenting on today’s report, Professor Barbara Pocock, Director of
UniSA’s
Centre for Work and Life and author of
The Labour Market Ate My Babies – Work, Children and a Sustainable
Future, says the recommendations are a disappointment.
“If adopted, these recommendations would be very damaging for Australia. They go in the wrong direction,” Prof Pocock says.
“The report names the problems very well but then doesn’t deal with
them in any substantive way, except to propose childcare tax breaks. The
recommendations do not deal with the key issues for working parents,
including:
• long hours, finding family time and having some say over working
hours
• the absence of paid maternity leave for two-thirds of
Australia’s women
• and the lack of good quality, affordable care for all our
children – not just those who can afford a nanny.
“This proposal keeps the problems of working parents private and assumes they are all about money. It would deliver only for the rich and leave the rest behind.
“It is very unfortunate that the recommendations offer nothing substantive on the issues of paid parental leave and rights to request to work part-time, at a time when so many other countries are recognising the need to act.”
Prof Pocock says of particular concern is the recommendation for a special visa category for immigrant workers to do Australia’s childcare.
“A new immigrant group of low paid au pairs is no way to solve Australia’s childcare problems, and no way to support working women,” she says.
“The report seems to suggest that all of the problems of working parents are solved through tax deductibility for childcare. Such a measure would increase demand but do nothing for the quality of childcare or its supply (including the supply of qualified workers and decent pay). It would quite probably make the problems worse rather than better. And along the way it will greatly advantage the rich, while delivering nothing to low and middle income earners.
“If the government were to adopt this report, it would be walking away from any of the real issues facing working carers.”
Professor Barbara Pocock is available for interview from 4pm
today, Friday Dec 8 on 0414 244 606
Media contact
- Vincent Ciccarello office (08) 8302 0578 mobile 0434 603 457 email vincent.ciccarello@unisa.edu.au