The federal government is preparing to entice parents to pay more attention

The current system, which has been in place for a decade and costs about $2.6 billion a year, provides 18 weeks of leave for the primary caregiver and another two weeks in “father and partner pay” for the secondary caregiver regardless of whether they are men or women.

Grattan Institute president Danielle Wood, a member of the task force, called for the scheme to be expanded to 26 weeks last year on the grounds that the additional $600 million would lead to stronger economic growth through greater labor force participation by women.

“I am convinced that the government understands the importance of allocating each parent to drive cultural change in the gender divisions of work and care,” she said.

“I will pay for at least six weeks to use it or lose it” for each parent. “

This approach will only save 20 weeks in total if the father chooses not to take the leave, giving families an incentive for the man to take care of the young child so the mother stays connected with her job and career.

Parenthood Executive Director Georgie Dent said the goal of taking four or six weeks of parental leave to “use it up or lose it” was necessary to achieve a change in behavior, so the men did more parenting in the early months and continue to do so. This style for years.

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“All recent studies show that children do much better when they have a positive interaction with parents,” Dent said.

With only 25 percent of eligible men taking leave in the current system, the task force may have to consider other incentives such as an increase in the pay rate, currently set at a minimum wage of about $812 a week.

University of Sydney professor Marianne Bird said government data showed 95 per cent of primary caregiver leave was taken by mothers and 95 per cent of secondary caregiver leave was taken by fathers, with no change in behavior over the past decade.

“If we want men to use the system more, the problem is that paying the national minimum wage will continue to be a barrier,” she said.

The main drawback is that men usually earn more than women and that family income will decrease if a man takes more parental leave even if it is funded by the taxpayer.

“We could say eight weeks should be reserved for the father, but the likelihood is that men won’t use that because it is paid minimum wage, so we end up not extending the period for either parent,” Baird said.

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Originally published at Melbourne News Vine