| SUNDAY STAR TIMES Treasury backs mums at home 01 May 2005 By RUTH LAUGESEN and GREG MEYLAN Treasury officials have questioned Prime Minister Helen Clark's plans to get mums back to work, saying New Zealand households are already among the hardest working in the world. Getting more people into work would mean less time for child rearing, housework and leisure - unpaid activities that "are nonetheless valuable and contribute to the overall welfare of the country", Treasury official Grant Johnston said. The report, displayed on a Treasury website last month and removed soon after, looked at New Zealand women's work patterns compared to other western countries. Johnston found the biggest factor in women not being at work was having pre-school children. Any policy needed to take into account "the desirability of time spent with young children". The report, presented at a Wellington workshop last month, has been welcomed by women's groups, child welfare organisations and home-based mothers, angered by Clark's comments early this year. Clark said she wanted to boost women's participation in the workforce, as it would improve economic growth. She said the government would look at increased childcare support and more generous paid parental leave. Johnston said the Ministry of Economic Development and the Treasury did not believe getting more people into work was the best way to help the economy. Instead, the key was increased productivity, or the value of goods and services people produced. Parents' Centre chief executive Viv Gurrey said the government would be better off validating the existing work women do, rather than trying to use them to boost economic indicators. "We would urge the government to look long term at the economic impact of taking women away from what is, for many, their core role of work as a parent. Good or bad parenting has a major impact on the country's social fabric." Auckland mother of two Jane Strange said she was disappointed by Clark's comments, which attacked her decision to stay at home. "I also thought it was politically dumb to potentially alienate liberal, middle-class women," she said. Strange was considering returning to part-time work now her eldest son was about to start school and because it was difficult to cope on one income. Plunket chief executive Paul Baigent welcomed the report's recognition of the importance of parenting. "Parenting is the most critical job any of us will ever do because we can make a huge contribution to that child and that will determine their contribution in later life so that - rather than filling up the prisons, hospitals and even the graveyards - they are making a positive contribution to the economy." A Treasury spokeswoman said the paper was removed from the website because it was a work in progress. Treasury planned to release it more widely after feedback and review. |