Kamala Emanuel, Hobart
Kay Patterson, the minister assisting the prime minister for the status of women, claims the budget shows the government's "strong ongoing commitment to the women of Australia", referring mainly to the $3000 maternity payment to new mothers, $600 per child rise in family tax benefit and funding for extra childcare places. But working-class women with children will find the new measures a long way from adequate.
The maternity payment will replace two previous payments, maternity allowance and baby bonus. The maternity allowance was a means-tested one-off payment of a mere $842.64 for the birth of each child. The baby bonus deserved to be scrapped. Designed to support women staying out of the workforce, it was an annual payment for up to five years to women looking after a 0-5 year-old child at home. The payment range was $500 to $2500 a year, highest for women earning the most before the birth of the baby. It discriminated against those who needed it most.
But replacing these with a one-off payment of $3000, while more equitable, does next to nothing to compensate women for the economic costs of childbirth and child-rearing. Australian women with one child are estimated to be $160,000-200,000 worse off over their lifetimes than if they hadn't given birth. The main factors are a lack of income when women are out of the paid workforce to give birth or look after their children, and a lack of social child-care restricting the hours women can work.
The additional childcare funding announced in the budget is completely inadequate to meet the current need. An estimated 160,000 women who want to be in the workforce are excluded because of a lack of childcare. Lynne Wannan, National Association of Community-Based Children's Services, said before the budget that the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that more childcare places are needed for around 175,000 children. The budget announcement of funding for an additional 40,000 out of school hours care (OSHC) places, and 4200 family day care (FDC) places is misleading. Only 30,000 of the OSHC and 1700 of the FDC places are actually new.
In 1996, the federal government scrapped operating grants to non-profit community child-care centres, replacing the funding with a model that subsidises private providers. The industry thrives on the exploitation of child-care workers, whose wages are among Australia's lowest: $11.80-$13 an hour (as low as $6 for "junior" workers). There are no provisions for any pay rise in the new funding.
What we need, on these two fronts alone, is real maternity leave so that women have an income while out of the workforce for the birth and care of a baby, and funding for free child-care services so there are places for all children needing them.
The Socialist Alliance is campaigning for an employer-funded scheme to provide 12 months of paid parental leave, and for free, high quality child-care centres — government-funded in the community, employer-funded in larger workplaces. We campaign for measures that recognise women's need for economic independence and equality, and the responsibility of society, not just individual families (mainly women), for the care of children.
[Kamala Emanuel is the Socialist Alliance candidate for the federal seat of Denison.]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, May 19, 2004.
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