Stay at home mothers will be thousands of dollars worse off than mothers in the paid workforce under both Labor’s and the Liberals’ new paid parental leave schemes. Under Labor, mothers who are in the paid workforce receive the minimum wage for six months (approximately $16,000). Under the Liberals, new mothers receive the equivalent of their current salary up to $75,000. Mothers who are not in the workforce however receive nothing under the Liberals – they are scrapping the baby bonus, and a means-tested $2,000 for their first child and $1,000 for subsequent births under Labor.

Family First spokesperson Bob Day said all mothers should be treated equally. “What Labor and the Liberals are basically saying is ‘women who stay at home are not working – they are ‘unemployed!’. Family First refutes this. These mothers are not ‘unemployed’, they are professional mothers and carers. A lot of stay at home mums have given up a whole salary to care for their babies, particularly women who do not live in the big cities. There is massive discrimination going on here which is creating higher taxes for everyone. The single-income family once again gets a raw deal.”

Family First said it wanted equal treatment for all mothers. “Whether you’ve got a job or not should not matter. Once the baby arrives all mothers are doing the same job – staying at home and looking after their new-born babies. Whatever happened to the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’?”