Gender Equity And Work/Family Policy Reform In Australia. Progress And Prospects

CENTRE FOR WORK + LIFEUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIABarbara Pocock, Sara Charlesworth, Natalie Skinner and Claire Hutchinson

5 years of work-family reform… In Australia Driven by

claims and mobilisation of feminists, unionists, government, some in business

Backed by a body of evidence and research Encouraged by tight labour market and Rising female participation, declining men’s

Reforms are modest in scope But better than in many other places (eg US) A strong economy at present perhaps enables

more…

5 years of wide ranging reform…1. Government funded Paid Parental Leave2. Government support for pay equity for some

categories of paid care workers3. Extension of anti-discrimination protections

for workers with family responsibilities4. Childcare reforms5. Reform of labour law

National employment standards National awards, overlaid with enterprise agreements

Including limited right to request flexibility (RTR)

However, continuing gender inequity

1. Pay inequity (including in retirement income)

2. Women’s responsibility for unpaid, domestic work

3. Sex-segregation of occupations and management/leadership

4. Declines in job quality for some (job security, conditions)

5. Work/life pressures, time pressures especially for mothers, carers

1. Pay equity Women earn around 83% men’s earnings

(full-time average ordinary time earnings) 85% in 2005 Most of the gap explained by ‘being a

woman’ 25% by industry segregation

Cost in labour market participation Estimated at A$93 bn (NATSEM, 2010),

8.5% GDP as women work less because of lower pay

2. Responsibility for unpaid, domestic work

Women do twice as much as men. Persistently. “Twenty-five years of exhortations and demands

have not substantially increased the contribution made by men to the total unpaid work performed…” (Bittman, 2010: 32)

Women adapt, do less, turn to market provision – and that has narrowed the gender gap a little.

But it remains wide, despite convergence of participation rates in paid work.

3. Sex-segregation of occupations and management/leadership Occupational sex-segmentation in Australia very

marked in international comparison No signs of reduction Growth in feminised services sector Women’s share of leadership, management

positions in Australia very low by international comparison.

8.4% of ASX 200 board directors (lower than UK, UK Canada, South Africa, New Zealand)

54% of ASX boards have no women Lower share of Executive Key Management Personnel than

US, UK, Canada, South Africa.

4. Job quality (job security, conditions)

2 million casual workers in Australia (24% of labour force)

Employed on a ‘shift to shift’ basis Though many work long term on this basis

More than half are women No paid holidays or sick leave (a loading

to compensate – but does not adequately)

Poor conditions, low retirement benefits

5. Work/life pressures, time pressures

Mothers work-life conflict worse than amongst those working 48 hours a week or working more than they would prefer

5 years of reform…1. Government funded Paid Parental Leave2. Government support for pay equity for

some categories of paid care workers3. Extension of anti-discrimination protections

for workers with family responsibilities4. Childcare reforms5. Reform of labour law

National employment standards National awards, overlaid with enterprise

agreements Including limited right to request flexibility (RTR)

1. Government funded Paid Parental Leave from 1 January 2011

18 weeks government funded Paid leave At minimum wage (about $590 a week, pre-tax)

If earn less than $150,000/yr worked for at least 10 of the 13 months prior to birth worked for at least 330 hours in that 10 month period (just over one day a

week) with no more than an 8 week gap between two consecutive working days.

Others have more through employer, bargaining Academics, public sector, large companies, banks…

From 1 Jan 2013, partner paid leave 2 weeks

Unpaid leave: If employed for 12 months or more prior to birth or adoption, entitled to up

to 12 months unpaid parental leave. Can also request an additional 12 months unpaid leave on top of this

2. Government support for pay equity for some paid care workers

3. Anti-discrimination protections for workers with family responsibilities

Anti-discrimination law from 1970s Discrimination in employment on basis of race, sex and

marital status Pregnancy and more recently care responsibilities added

Emergence in Victoria of new type of discrimination:

‘unreasonable failure to accommodate an employee’s care responsibilities’ (Chapman, 2012: 5)

2011 Commonwealth and most states discrimination on grounds of family responsibilities extended beyond dismissal to all aspects of employment incl

promotion and hiring Only ‘direct’ discrimination – not indirect

Victoria, NT and NSW (arguably) also include

‘an obligation on employers to provide a level of accommodation for an employee’s care responsibilities’ (Chapman 2012: 9)

Thus provide some avenues for greater support for working carers

But relies on individual complaints Relatively small number of cases Outcomes tend to reinforce care=women, not

men/fathers

4. Childcare

Government funding has increased significantly Financial assistance began in 1972 - $4.4bn in 2012/13 (DEEWR, 2010: 2) Rationales: labour market participation and early childhood development 600,000+ families use

Growth in services but shortages in some areas (eg under 2s in big cities)

Greater focus on quality Means tested government subsidies to parents for approved

childcare – affordable for many families Collapse of private provider (ABC Learning) has led to fall in

for-profit share of provision, more stability Current debate about subsidising nannies and providing tax-

deductability – but minority, wealthy users…

5. Labour law reform - Right to request

Fair Work Act 2009 New ‘right to request’ (RTR) from1 Jan 2010 Gives working parents of preschoolers or children

under 18 with a disability the right to request flexibility

a duty for the employer to consider ‘reasonably’

Compared to other countries ‘light touch’, modest right, constrained

access Weak enforcement – only in relation to

process Similar in spirit to UK, the Netherlands,

Germany and New Zealand – but generally weaker

RTR and work-life outcomes?

Data sources and methods: Australian Work and Life Index surveys

2009, 2012 (and 2014 in the future) Cross-sectional CATI surveys AWALI 2009 N = 2691, AWALI 2012 N =2492 Random digit dialling; stratified random sample by

geographic location; quotas for gender & age Representative sample of Aust. employed

population. 50.6% response amongst those contacted by

phone Also conducting interviews….

Who sought flexibility?

Men Women All

2009 16.3 29.1 22.4

Who sought flexibility?

Men Women All

2009 16.3 29.1 22.4

2012 17.3 24.2 20.6

Awareness of new right 2 years on Majority not aware of RTR Of parents of preschoolers

Only a third of fathers aware A quarter of mothers aware

So perhaps not surprising that we find no increase in proportion of respondents seeking flexibility

Rates of request making, 2 years on

20.6% had made a request over previous 12 months - Down from 22.4% in 2009

Gender gap in request making narrowed Men – not much change Women – smaller proportion asking 24.2% 2012, 29.1% 2009)

Slight increase for fathers of children under 5 19.8% in 2012, 17.1% in 2009

Slight decrease for mothers of children >5 43.0% in 2012, from 47.8% in 2009

Granting, refusal? As pre-RTR, most are granted

61.9% fully 19.1% partially 13.2% refused Men more likely to be refused than women

(17.4% compared with 9.8% women)

Effect on work-life interference? Significantly better when request

granted for both women and men Fully granted much better for women

than partially granted No difference for men Worse work-life interference for those

refused

Conclusion Significant policy changes in Australia But significant gender gaps remain

Time pressures, pay gap, segmentation, domestic and care work

Effectiveness of implementation of new policies matters Eg Knowledge of new rights And how they interact with other regulations

(eg awards, individual flexibility agreements) which may be much more important in shaping gendered regimes of work and care

Conclusion Powerful gender cultures in workplaces and social life

work mean that gender inequalities are not necessarily narrowed by particular policies Especially where limited, individualised and not

scrutinised And some entrench gender inequality because

women remain responsible for sustaining work and family And attempt to combine work and family life (eg through

part-time work and requests for flexibility) but do not experience, as they do so, either Improvements in the terms and conditions of paid work Or more equal distribution of unpaid work and care

http://www.unisa.edu.au/Research/Centre-for-Work-Life/