Dr Jana Javornik discusses shared parental leave proposals
How to create a new, more equal system which allows both parents to keep a strong link to their workplace.
Writing for The Conversation, Dr Jana Javornik discusses whether the new Shared Parental Leave scheme, which could come into force later this year, is a good idea in practice.
Dr Javornik, Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Work, Care and Global Transitions, argues that the new Shared Parental Leave scheme offers an appealing solution to the significant difference in parental leave taken by male and female workers, a statistic that ultimately leads to the discrimination of mothers in the workplace.
The government’s proposed new measures aim to ‘create a new, more equal system which allows both parents to keep a strong link to their workplace’, such as allowing parents to split maternity leave days. Javornik argues that the scheme could help redistribute paid work within the family and also stand as a major advance in gender equality.
This said, Dr Javornik also highlights how the new measures may struggle to achieve its aims in practice and criticises the government for failing to propose a more forceful “use it or lose it” structure.
