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The Impact of Paid Parental Leave on Gender Equity in New Zealand: Case Studies

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The Impact of Paid Parental Leave on Gender Equity in New Zealand: Case Studies The Impact of Paid Parental Leave on Gender Equity in New Zealand: Case Studies A thesis suBmitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Mandy Stratford University of Canterbury 2016 1 Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 6 ABstract ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter One: Introduction – why is paid parental leave important for gender equity? .................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 The nature of paid parental leave ................................................................................. 8 1.2 Terminology – what is the difference Between gender equity and gender equality? ..................................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Understanding ‘gender equity’ through opportunities and outcomes in the workplace .................................................................................................................................. 12 1.4 Why study paid parental leave with respect to gender equity? ....................... 13 1.5 How much can paid parental leave affect gender equity in the workplace? 14 1.6 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................... 16 Chapter Two: The Different Models of Parental Leave ...................................... 19 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 19 1.1 Social movement theory ............................................................................................................ 19 1.2 Models of Paid Parental Leave ................................................................................................ 22 Figure 2.1 Esping-Andersen’s welfare state framework ..................................................... 25 Figure 2.2 Baird’s Typology of Parental Leave Debates (Baird, 2004, p. 269) .......... 25 2. The Welfare Orientation ................................................................................................. 26 2.1 How is parental leave framed in the welfare orientation? .......................................... 26 2.2 Parental leave provisions in early welfare states ........................................................... 26 2.3 The welfare orientation in contemporary discourse .................................................... 28 3. The Bargaining Orientation ........................................................................................... 29 3.1 How is parental leave framed in the bargaining orientation? ................................... 30 3.2 History of bargaining-oriented parental leave ................................................................. 31 3.3 The bargaining orientation in contemporary discourse .............................................. 32 3.4 Parental leave in the interests of business ......................................................................... 34 4. The Equity Orientation .................................................................................................... 35 4.1 How is parental leave framed in the equity orientation? ............................................ 35 4.2 Paid parental leave and women’s right to work .............................................................. 36 4.3 The equity orientation in contemporary discourse ....................................................... 37 5. Summary ................................................................................................................................ 40 2 Chapter Three: Parental Leave Legislation in New Zealand – History and Current Debates .............................................................................................................. 43 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 44 Figure 3.1 Key developments in New Zealand parental leave legislation ................... 46 2. Early Developments: 1980-1990 ................................................................................... 46 2.1 The ‘Maternity Leave and Employment Protection Act’ 1980 .................................. 46 2.2 The New Zealand women’s movement in the 1970s ..................................................... 47 2.3 Enacting the MLEPA against the background of the ‘deserving beneficiary’ ...... 49 2.4 Impact of the MLEPA ................................................................................................................... 52 2.5. ‘Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act’ 1987 ............................................. 54 3. 1990-1999: Stagnation under neoliberalism ............................................................ 56 4. Recent Developments: 1999-present .......................................................................... 58 4.1 ‘Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Paid Parental Leave) Amendment Act’ 2002 .................................................................................................................................................. 58 4.2 Current requirements ................................................................................................................. 62 4.3 What is the impact of the current legislation? .................................................................. 63 5. Current debate themes ..................................................................................................... 67 5.1 The child welfare argument ..................................................................................................... 68 5.2 The business argument .............................................................................................................. 70 5.3 The equity argument ................................................................................................................... 74 5. How successful has New Zealand parental leave legislation been in addressing proBlems of gender equity in the workplace? ........................................ 76 6. Summary ................................................................................................................................ 78 Chapter Four: Research Methodology ..................................................................... 81 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 81 2. Literature review - how has the impact of parental leave on gender equity been studied in the past? ...................................................................................................... 81 2.1 New Zealand studies of parental leave ................................................................................ 81 2.2 Overseas ............................................................................................................................................ 84 2.3 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 85 3. Qualitative research – the value of small scale in-depth interviews ................. 85 4. The use of semi-structured interviews ....................................................................... 87 5. Participant and case study selection ............................................................................ 88 6. Research ethics .................................................................................................................... 91 7. Research validity ................................................................................................................ 92 3 8. Summary ................................................................................................................................ 94 Chapter Five: Case Study Results and Discussion – how do women perceive the impact of paid parental leave on their own lives? ....................................... 95 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 95 Participant profiles ................................................................................................................. 95 Figure 5.1 Participant data ............................................................................................................... 99 1. How do families use paid parental leave, and how well does it advance their interests? .................................................................................................................................. 100 1.1 How does the availability of paid parental leave affect planning before and during pregnancy? To what extent do prospective parents take it into account? 100 1.2 How much leave is taken in total? ....................................................................................... 101 1.3 What kinds of factors are important to parents when
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