At the same time, under the rhetoric of mutual obligation, the government is encouraging sole parents and mothers in low-income families to enter the workforce. For women, the message is painfully clear. They are not valued as workers, for valued workers command a living wage. They are not valued as full-time mothers, for they are increasingly being encouraged to enter the waged labour force. In a country which provides negligible support to women seeking to combine workforce participation and family responsibilities and is one of only two OECD countries without universal paid maternity leave, the confluence of these policies is chilling.
Women are fungible as workers and replaceable as mothers.
The Law Society of New South Wales is the professional association for the solicitors branch of the legal profession in the State of New South Wales, Australia. 170 Phillip Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.