Gender Equity And Work/Family Policy Reform In Australia. Progress And Prospects Centre for Work + Life University of S

1. Gender Equity And Work/Family Policy Reform In Australia. Progress And ProspectsCentre for Work + LifeUniversity of South Australia Barbara Pocock, Sara Charlesworth, Natalie Skinner and Claire Hutchinson

2. 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…

3. 5 years of wide ranging reform… • Government funded Paid Parental Leave • Government support for pay equity for some categories of paid care workers • Extension of anti-discrimination protections for workers with family responsibilities • Childcare reforms • Reform of labour law • National employment standards • National awards, overlaid with enterprise agreements • Including limited right to request flexibility (RTR)

4. However, continuing gender inequity • Pay inequity (including in retirement income) • Women’s responsibility for unpaid, domestic work • Sex-segregation of occupations and management/leadership • Declines in job quality for some (job security, conditions) • Work/life pressures, time pressures especially for mothers, carers

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. 5 years of reform… • Government funded Paid Parental Leave • Government support for pay equity for some categories of paid care workers • Extension of anti-discrimination protections for workers with family responsibilities • Childcare reforms • Reform of labour law • National employment standards • National awards, overlaid with enterprise agreements • Including limited right to request flexibility (RTR)

11. 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

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

15. 3. Anti-discrimination protections for workers with family responsibilities • Anti-discrimination law from 1970s • Discrimination in employmenton 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

16. 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

17. 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…

18. 5. Labour law reform - Right to request

19. 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’

20. 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

21. 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….

22. Who sought flexibility?

23. Who sought flexibility?

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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)

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

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