As migration between developed countries increases, attracting and retaining skilled workers should concern Government. Being a good place to raise children is an attraction of New Zealand; however our PPL is relatively short. Additionally, New Zealand had the lowest 2005 OECD PPL spend, per child born.[1] The average paid maternity leave[2] in OECD countries is 18 weeks.[3] Figure 1 shows PPL length in OECD countries. As can be seen, New Zealand’s PPL length does not compare well. OECD payment levels are diverse and complex, usually a function of a combination of parent’s pay, child’s age, employment sector, and tax code. Maximum payment is a function of either minimum or average wage. However, length, not payment level, is this report’s primary concern. It is simply increased length would be ineffective without payment increases.
|
Country |
Total months post-natal leave (includes maternal, paternal/partner, and family) |
Number of those months that are paid |
|
Australia |
12 |
0 |
|
Austria |
24 |
24 |
|
Belgium |
9.5 |
9.5 |
|
Canada |
12 |
11.5 |
|
Quebec |
16 |
15.5 |
|
Czech Republic |
36 |
36 |
|
Denmark |
10.5 |
10.5 |
|
Estonia |
36 |
36 |
|
Finland |
36 |
36 |
|
France |
36 |
36 |
|
Germany |
36 |
24 |
|
Greece |
9 |
2 |
|
Hungary |
36 |
36 |
|
Iceland |
9 |
9 |
|
Ireland |
14 |
4.5 |
|
Italy |
13.5 |
13.5 |
|
Netherlands |
8.5 |
2.5 |
|
New Zealand |
12 |
3 |
|
Norway |
36 |
12 |
|
Portugal |
34 |
4 |
|
Slovenia |
12 |
12 |
|
Spain |
36 |
3.5 |
|
Sweden |
16 |
16 |
|
UK |
18 |
6 |
|
USA |
0 |
0 |
[1] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2009. “PF7: Key Characteristics of Parental Leave Systems.” In, OECD Family Database. Accessed 8/9/2009 at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/45/26/37864482.pdf
[2] In New Zealand’s policy, paid maternity leave always equates with paid parental leave. However, this is not the case in all OECD countries. This means that it is likely that the average for total PPL (maternity + paternity + family) across the OECD is even higher than 18 weeks. This makes New Zealand’s policy appear even less generous by comparison. (OECD 2009.)
[3] OECD 2009.