Their needs are unlikely to be considered in policy formulation. This helps explain why women who work at home still have almost no access to superannuation and why there is so little flexibility within workplaces to help mothers balance paid work and family responsibilities. Paid maternity leave is enjoyed by very few and one year's unpaid leave is simply not long enough. Our resulting drastically falling birthrate is a major cause for concern to both Government and Opposition parties at the federal level. The age imbalance it has already created and the prospect of severe labour shortages in the next twenty to thirty years are quite alarming.
Governments continue to ignore women's work at their peril.