How a welfare approach to maternity has facilitated low workforce participation rates for Australian women of child-bearing age

O'Neill, MS; Johns, RE

How a welfare approach to maternity has facilitated low workforce participation rates for Australian women of child-bearing age

O'Neill, MS Johns, RE

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Publisher:: International Employment Relations Association
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: International Employment Relations Review, 2009, 15 (1), pp. 53 - 72
Issue Date:: 2009-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	O'Neill, MS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Johns, RE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3357-4719	en_US
dc.date.issued	2009-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	International Employment Relations Review, 2009, 15 (1), pp. 53 - 72	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1324-1125	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10084
dc.description.abstract	Australia is only one of two OECD Countries that has no legislated universal paid maternity leave scheme. It also ranks eighth lowest in the OECD for the workforce participation rate of women of child-bearing age. This paper examines why consecutive Australian governments have opted to provide a welfare approach to the issue of maternity rather than encourage and embrace womens workforce participation by providing legal entitlements within an employment relations context. The paper examines the history of welfare and paid maternity leave in Australia through an institutional framework in which society, politics and the economy become the bases for the argument. By using this framework for the examination, the paper aims to provide an understanding for the comparatively low workforce participation rate of women of child-bearing age observed within Australia.	en_US
dc.publisher	International Employment Relations Association	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	International Employment Relations Review	en_US
dc.title	How a welfare approach to maternity has facilitated low workforce participation rates for Australian women of child-bearing age	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	15	en_US
utslib.for	150305 Human Resources Management	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.volume	15	en_US

Abstract:

Australia is only one of two OECD Countries that has no legislated universal paid maternity leave scheme. It also ranks eighth lowest in the OECD for the workforce participation rate of women of child-bearing age. This paper examines why consecutive Australian governments have opted to provide a welfare approach to the issue of maternity rather than encourage and embrace womens workforce participation by providing legal entitlements within an employment relations context. The paper examines the history of welfare and paid maternity leave in Australia through an institutional framework in which society, politics and the economy become the bases for the argument. By using this framework for the examination, the paper aims to provide an understanding for the comparatively low workforce participation rate of women of child-bearing age observed within Australia.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10084