Abstract
Purpose - This paper explores recent changes in Australia’s work-family policies and programs and their implications for gender (in)equality.Design/methodology/approach - We critically assess a suite of new work/family-related policies, including a government-funded national paid parental leave scheme, the introduction of a limited right to request flexible working conditions, and the extension of state and federal anti-discrimination legal protections for workers with family responsibilities.Findings - Our analysis suggests a lack of coherence and integration between work/family related policies and the need for a wider range of reforms, particularly in relation to domestic work and care. We find that the gendered use of flexibility rights, like the new right to request, do not necessarily improve gender equality and may work to entrench it in the face of strong gendered workplace and societal norms around work and care. As a consequence women workers and mothers - who have been constructed as the work/family problem to be ‘fixed’ - are left even more rushed and pressed for time. Originality/value - This empirically-informed analysis shows the power of the broader gender political and normative context and the limits of modest and piecemeal policy reform in relation to work-family issues – even where economic conditions remain relatively positive. We conclude that without robust, multi-faceted and integrated policy reform around work and family, in which gender equality outcomes are a central objective, policy reforms will fail to achieve a more equal sharing of paid and caring work between men and women, and greater equality between women and men more generally.
Purpose - This paper explores recent changes in Australia’s work-family policies and programs and their implications for gender (in)equality.Design/methodology/approach - We critically assess a suite of new work/family-related policies, including a government-funded national paid parental leave scheme, the introduction of a limited right to request flexible working conditions, and the extension of state and federal anti-discrimination legal protections for workers with family responsibilities.Findings - Our analysis suggests a lack of coherence and integration between work/family related policies and the need for a wider range of reforms, particularly in relation to domestic work and care. We find that the gendered use of flexibility rights, like the new right to request, do not necessarily improve gender equality and may work to entrench it in the face of strong gendered workplace and societal norms around work and care. As a consequence women workers and mothers - who have been constructed as the work/family problem to be ‘fixed’ - are left even more rushed and pressed for time. Originality/value - This empirically-informed analysis shows the power of the broader gender political and normative context and the limits of modest and piecemeal policy reform in relation to work-family issues – even where economic conditions remain relatively positive. We conclude that without robust, multi-faceted and integrated policy reform around work and family, in which gender equality outcomes are a central objective, policy reforms will fail to achieve a more equal sharing of paid and caring work between men and women, and greater equality between women and men more generally.