Pauline Hanson’s stance on paid parental leave and childcare could turn clock back by decades, economists warn

Summary

One Nation leader appears to suggest women should not be paid by employers while on maternity leave and calls for family income splitting Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast One Nation could wind back the clock by decades for working mothers, damage productivity and worsen gender inequality, economists have warned. In a controversial address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Pauline Hanson seemed to suggest women should not get paid by their employers while on maternity leave. She also hinted at major changes to the childcare system, and called for income splitting for families to help incentivise a parent staying home with their children. “If women take time off and they are not paid their wages because they’re not working, fair enough. Why should business pay? But they’re not at work. The government paid parental leave scheme from 1 July will offer parents 26 weeks at the national minimum wage. Leonora Risse, an associate professor in economics at Queensland University of Technology, said any move away from paid leave could have serious financial implications for women. “Questioning these policies is actually winding back the clock to many decades back, where it wasn’t an even playing field, and the gender gap was much wider,” Risse said. “It isn’t just the financial implications for women, it is also setting women back in terms of decision-making, having financial independence, having a say, having status and respect in society.” Risse said that competitive paid parental leave ensures that women can remain in the workforce longer term and improve productivity. “If women can sustain their involvement and their attachment to the workforce and to their employer during their child-bearing years, that’s positive for productivity because it maintains a good job match,” she said. “We’ve worked really hard to validate that case and to prove that it has a productivity benefit as well as a wellbeing benefit.” Guardian Australia asked One Nation whether it would continue to support government-funded paid parental leave, but the party did not respond. The policy, which exists in other countries including France, would allow both parents to add their income together and split the total, meaning the income would be subject to two tax-free thresholds. One Nation’s website states the policy will “encourage parents to look after their own children, and reduce the cost to the government of childcare, especially pre-school. It will also encourage homeschooling.” The independent economist Silvia Griselda said policies to try to incentivise women staying at home could lead to skills shortages and a need for higher immigration. “Women, on average, tend to be more educated than men, so if you’re asking half of the workforce to not work … it means that we are kind of limiting the growth and the productivity of the Australian economy. “[And] if there is a shortage of skills in Australia, Australia has to overcome that through immigration.” Risse said income splitting would need to be designed carefully to ensure women could remain financially independent. “One of the ways in which gender equality policies have progressed over time is for women to actually gain the right to have their own bank account, their own financial stream, and not to be dependent,” she said. “Income splitting could sound potentially equitable in practice, but it also introduces potential risk or compromise in terms of women’s financial independence.” Hanson also called for an overhaul of the childcare system, which now costs about $16bn a year.