Work and family: the challenge for modern Australia

While the birth of a child is often a special time for families for women it is also a time characterised by colic, croup, cracked nipples, six feeds a day and sheer physical exhaustion. Post natal depression is common, as is the need for a physical recovery from caesarean section births.

Dragging yourself out of bed after your head has just hit the pillow-following feed number five- to go to work is 'that's life' for many women with newborn babies.

My final point I would like to address is why is work and family the issue of today? Why are we discussing paid maternity leave and flexible work hours?

Because these are realistic responses to the needs of the modern Australian family - the two income family.

Sure, one parent might only need to work part time, but work they both do. It's not about saving up for the overseas family holiday, if indeed it ever was. Today the majority of women will have to work part or full time for at least part of their parenting years, because the real cost of living is high. In particular, housing affordability, Australia wide, has declined by 29 per cent within the space of a generation. You need two incomes to carry the mortgage on the slum of your dreams, forget the four-bedroom mansion with the spa bath and optional pool room!

Into this heady pressure pack, you can now add the fact that women still bear children and somehow have to cope with all this while juggling a major responsibility that hasn't changed for thousands of years and isn't likely to!

Traditionally, we have based our support for families around the male breadwinner model. A model which is no longer relevant.

The family has changed, therefore the sort of support we give to families has got to change.

Paid maternity leave acknowledges this. As does the introduction of flexible work practices, and an acceptance of part time work. These are sensible and effective way of supporting today's Australian families.