Paid Parental Leave: Robin Hood or piggy bank?

Image source: fahcsia.gov.au

While there are numerous differences between the Labor and Coalition policies on parental leave pay, the most controversial is the rate of payment. While the current Government scheme is paid at the National Minimum Wage ($606.50 per week), the Coalition proposal is for parents to be paid at their full salary capped at an income level of $150,000.

The difference between the two approaches highlights the complicated relationship present in both schemes between the idea of Parental Leave Pay as a workplace entitlement and a payment made through the social security system.

Is there too much middle class welfare in Australia?

'Middle class welfare' has recently reemerged as an issue in Australian politics, primarily as a result of debates about how the Australian Government should fund infrastructure reconstruction following the floods in Queensland and Victoria. Criticisms of middle class welfare are often premised on the idea that it is a particular problem in Australia. But what is the extent of middle class welfare in Australia and should access by people on middle incomes to welfare benefits and services necessarily be seen as a matter for concern?

Who's really time poor?

What exactly does it mean to be time poor? Is it simply a matter of work-life imbalance? Can anyone—poor or wealthy—be time poor? Or should time poverty actually be about more profound issues such as control over one’s life? These are the kinds of questions addressed by Professor Bob Goodin of the ANU in his keynote address to the 11th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference (Melbourne Convention Centre, 7 July). Goodin presented the findings of his research in the area of work-life balance (undertaken with colleagues, James Mahmud Rice, Antti Parpo and Lina Erikson) published in the book, Discretionary time: a new measure of freedom.