10. Question No. 10—Workplace Relations and SafetyJAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and SafetyQuestion No. 10—Workplace Relations and Safety10. JAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: Is he concerned that UNICEF ranked Aotearoa the third worst in the OCED for paid parental leave entitlements and that working families face the most expensive childcare costs as a percentage of the average wage? Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): I acknowledge the report released by UNICEF and its conclusions on paid parental leave entitlements. I also note the report found that New Zealand achieves well in regards to the quality of childcare in terms of child to teacher ratios and in the qualifications of caregivers. I am proud that it's been Labour-led Governments that have led the way on the provision of paid parental leave including its introduction in 2002 and its increase to 26 weeks in the previous term of Government. I do note that the data tables on page 26 of the UNICEF report are based on 2018 data. Therefore the league table results do not reflect the increase to 26 weeks of paid parental leave which only fully took effect from 2020. Our Government does continue to support young families through the provision of paid parental leave but also recently our doubling of sick leave entitlements our Families Package improvements we're making to the Holidays Act which will increase flexibility and the upcoming winter energy payment. We always acknowledge that there is more to do. That's why we're committed to turning around the longstanding inequalities that some Kiwi families face. Jan Logie: Does the Minister think it's equitable that the proposed Income Insurance Scheme will provide payments of up to $2511 a week for 28 weeks while new families getting paid parental leave will continue to have payments capped at $621 per week for only 26 weeks? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: One of the features of New Zealand's paid parental leave scheme as compared to some of the jurisdictions that we're compared to in the UNICEF report of course is that our paid parental leave is purely taxpayer-funded. Many of the comparable schemes around the world are funded through a mix of employer and employee contributions. As such while we are always keen to increase and improve paid parental leave provisions we do have to consider the range of other priorities that there are to support families. We've provided a lot of that support this term and as I said in my previous answer we'll continue to look at what we can do but we have to balance it against other priorities. Jan Logie: Does he agree we should be encouraging equity of caring responsibilities when it comes to pēpē and if so will he commit to additional leave entitlements for partners of people who have given birth? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As the member will be aware partners are entitled to unpaid paid parental leave over that period. There is a difference of course between that and the entitlement to paid parental leave that the mother is entitled to. I have recently asked officials for advice on improvements that can potentially be made to the paid parental leave and that is one of the issues that I'm willing to consider. As I said in my previous answer we'll need to consider any investments in that area as compared to other priorities that we have to support working families. Jan Logie: Does he believe families are adequately supported when paid parental leave entitlements end at 26 weeks and the cost of unsubsidised childcare is 36 percent of the average wage and 20 hours' free early childhood education (ECE) doesn't start until age three? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I'm enormously proud of the investments that our Government has made into high-quality and accessible early childhood education and one of the things that the UNICEF report notes is that New Zealand has real strengths in this area. We are committed to continuing to improve the range of supports that we provide to our young families. Whether it's through paid parental leave whether it's through the Best Start payments that were introduced by this Government or whether it's through high-quality accessible ECE which we have put a lot more resource into we'll continue with that work and we'll continue to make sure that we make good decisions in the round to provide that support to young families. Jan Logie: What is the Government's response to the call from UNICEF to extend and align the end of paid parental leave with the availability of childcare and to introduce national targets to increase the affordability of childcare? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As I've said in my primary answer the Government does acknowledge and will consider those recommendations that are made. Obviously my area of responsibility is in respect of paid parental leave. We believe that we have made a real difference with the extension to 26 weeks and we'll continue to look at improvements that we can make to that scheme.