Labour isn’t wasting any time: they’ve just announced that they’ll be introducing legislation on Wednesday to extend paid parental leave:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced paid parental leave will be increased to 26 weeks by 2020.
Ardern said Cabinet had today approved the policy to increase paid parental leave to 22 weeks by July 1, 2018, and 26 weeks by July 1, 2020.
“The evidence is clear, it is well supported it is a policy we are incredibly proud to be introducing at this early stage of the Government.”
Ardern said legislation will be introduced into the House on Wednesday.
Good. National’s abuse of the financial veto to ignore and effectively overturn a parliamentary majority for paid parental leave extension was one of the great abuses of their last term, and I’m glad to see it being fixed with some rapidity. As for the policy itself, its a sensible but also quite modest internationally. Still, it lays the groundwork for further extensions in the future.
That will be nice for the families concerned
A.
Good call by Labour, and it will have benefits for many families.
And, as NRT implies, Bill English using his veto for that law was anti-democratic: part of National Party hypocrisy – ready to use claims of the current governing parties being undemocratic when it suits, but very willing to act undemocratically themselves, also when it suits.
Here’s a prediction.
This change to parental leave will have no discernible impact on New Zealand. We won’t achieve higher in education, we won’t reduce divorce rates and outcomes for children will remain totally unchanged.
Like most social investment spending the outcomes won’t be measurable and we will pour this money down the proverbial black hole because it sounds like it might be a good idea for society.
All the while ignoring the elephant in the room that our planet needs to reduce it’s human population to combat climate change and poverty.