APPENDIX 5
Memorandum submitted by Ruth Lister, Professor
of Social Policy (PL 6)
SUMMARY
This brief memorandum makes the case for paid
parental leave as part of a more inclusive social insurance scheme,
and not confined to low income parents, in the longer term. It
also argues for an extended period of paid parental leave, part
of which is reserved for fathers, in order to encourage paternal
use of parental leave.
1. The introduction of parental leave in
the UK represents an important step in the development of policies
which enable parents to combine their paid work and family care
responsibilities. As such, it should be seen as part of the nexus
of social citizenship rights which support parenting and promote
gender equality.
2. However, if parental leave is to be effective,
it needs to be paid. Public discussion hitherto has focused mainly
on the inability of low income mothers to take the leave, if it
is unpaid. This is a very important issue. In addition, though,
the disincentive effect of unpaid leave cuts both ways. If parental
leave is unpaid, it is also highly unlikely that fathers will
take any of the leave. Cross-national evidence indicates that
financial considerations act as a significant deterrent to male
use of parental leave. One of the purposes of parental, as opposed
to maternity, leave is to encourage fathers as well as mothers
to spend time with their very young children.
3. It has been suggested in some quarters
that paid leave should be introduced on a means-tested basis,
possibly linked to the working families tax credit. While this
might represent a politically viable compromise in the short term,
it should not, in my view, be seen as a longer term solution.
Confining parental leave to low income parents confuses issues
of horizontal and vertical equity and does not address the issue
of paternal use of the leave. Parental leave is a policy designed,
in part, to strengthen the position of those with children in
the labour market and to encourage a more equitable sharing of
the responsibility for care of children between mothers and fathers.
These goals are relevant at every income level.
4. An alternative, longer term, approach
would be that recommended by the Commission for Social Justice,
namely parental leave insurance, as part of a more inclusive social
insurance scheme. This would be consistent with the Government's
extension of maternity allowance to women below the lower earnings
limit, earning at least £30. While the Commission did not
believe that parental leave insurance could be recommended immediately,
it argued that "it would do so much to improve the quality
of children's and parents" lives that it should be accepted
in principle and introduced gradually[6].
5. The Commission also raised the possibility
of building in an earnings-related element in order to encourage
fathers' use of parental leave. Another, option, which might be
considered in the longer term, within the context of a more extended
paid parental leave period, is to reserve a period of the leave
for fathers. Such a policy has been adopted in, for instance,
Norway and Sweden. In Norway, it did appear to have a significant
impact on fathers' take-up of the leave. As well as making it
easier for fathers to take parental leave, it sends out a signal
that there is a societal assumption that they will do so. This
could be important in encouraging greater male involvement in
domestic caring responsibilities.
June 1999
6 Commission on Social Justice (1994), Social Justice.
Strategies for National Renewal, Vintage, p241 Back
|
