Returning to work after maternity/paternity leave.

I didn't realise until recently that it is the exception, not the norm, for businesses to offer returning mothers part time work. I know that there is no requirement for businesses to offer part time work but I thought in this day and age it would be common place. Instead a couple of the mothers from my mothers group have quit their jobs because they were told that they had to return to full time work. So instead of the business valuing their employee and the expertise they hold they would rather invest money into employing (and training) someone full time.

I never realised just how lucky I am to a) receive any paid maternity leave at all and b) have the option to return part time (with as many or as little hours of my choosing). Really I believe that there should be paid maternity leave for at least 13 months (means tested and available to either parent) and an option for that parent to return on a part time basis. Why 13 months paid leave? Because that gives the mother time one month prior to birth and the ability for either parent to stay home until a child is one year old. Yes, either parent should have the opportunity to stay home with their child in his/her first year. I have known dads who have chosen to be the primary caregiver. One who was much older and had had his career already while his wife was just starting out. Another whose wife earned a lot more than he and valued her career more highly than he valued his. These are parents who value a parent staying home to raise their child and have planned and organised accordingly.

I read somewhere that in 2011 there will be a paid maternity leave scheme introduced in Australia but for a total of 18 weeks only. This is still behind some other countries which offer at least 12 months paid leave. I realise that the money will have to come from tax payers but at the moment the government supports a paid child care scheme to help parents return to work, which parents can access when their baby is just 6 weeks old. Why not instead put this money into supporting parents to stay at home for the first year of their child's life?

I'm not saying that the primary caregiver needs to stay home forever or until a child is in school - just for the first (most important) year of the child's life. In fact I think at some point a parent needs to return to the work force to keep a toe in their previous career (especially when looking at my mother's generation who stayed home till children were well into school and then couldn't return to their previous careers because of too many advances in the work force). A return to the work force can also give the care taker time out and more time with adults.