Paid parental leave is on the agenda this week after the government introduced plans to limit entitlements to parents who double dip and receive benefits from both the government and their employer.
Currently in Australia, working parents are entitled to a total of 18 weeks of tax-payer funded leave paid at the minimum wage rate of $672.60 per week before tax. New mothers eligible for the Paid Parental Leave scheme are also entitled to any additional paid leave provided by their employer.
So how does this stack up to whats on offer across the globe? According to a recent report issued by the OECD, Australias parental leave entitlements fall below the average for OECD countries.
The figures are compiled from 2015 data and are measured in terms of how many weeks leave a new mother is entitled to, and at what rate that leave is being paid. The latter is calculated as a percentage of that countrys average national income.
