Analysis of the Salary Levels of Eligible Australians Compared to Other Countries

The topic that was discussed during the interview was whether eligible citizens in Australia are paid at a rate which is acceptable compared to other countries and whether the period of paid leave is currently appropriate. When asked this question the respondent felt that people should be paid their full usual salary that they would receive when working fulltime. The respondent also felt that non-primary caregiver, which is usually the baby's father should have their paid leave period increased from the current two weeks, to a month, in order to give the father and baby more time to bond during this crucial period.

Further, the respondent also felt that the primary caregiver should be able to claim paid parental leave for up to a year, as opposed to the current 18 weeks they are currently entitled to. The reason given for this, is they felt that being forced to put a baby into childcare with strangers looking after them was less than ideal as they believed children less than one-year old are too young for that. Australian media has discussed this issue within articles aimed at educating the populace on this social issue. SBS News has actually written an article making a comparison between Australian Paid Parental Leave policy and other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The article claims that Australia pays the equivalent of 42 percent of the average wage for a period of 18 weeks. This is in contrast to Bulgaria where new mothers have access to 74 weeks paid leave at the national average salary. Another example given in the newspaper article was Lithuania, which provides paid leave at 100 percent of the national average for a period of 62 weeks in total. Further, ABC news has an online article regarding the leave of non-primary caregivers. This article discusses how very few new dads are able to bond with their babies as the current system in Australia only allows two weeks paid leave for the non-primary caregivers, usually the fathers'. But, according to this article, in Sweden, non-primary caregivers can claim up to 90 days paid leave in order to give them more time during the crucial bonding period.

There have also been studies conducted that support the interviewees' view regarding the length of time offered for parental leave. In fact, studies conducted by Winegarden & Bracy found that the introduction of maternity leave had contributed to a drop in the infant mortality rate. All of this suggests that the interviewee may be correct in her views regarding this question, as both, the media and academic sources support her overall opinion in reference to the length and pay rate of parental leave.