Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:623;Page:18234] 
3.  
JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Is she confident that her Government’s policies to improve labour force participation announced yesterday are consistent with its commitment to “support families so that they can be cohesive well-functioning social institutions within New Zealand society.”; if so why? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes. Through a wide range of policies this Government is supporting New Zealand families including the Working for Families package which will benefit 300000 low and modest income families and including the big investments in early childhood education and after-school care the introduction and extension of paid parental leave the fourth week’s holiday that provides for better work-life balance increases in the minimum wage and huge increases in health and education spending. 
Judy Turner 
: Does the Prime Minister believe that parents who choose to care for children at home are involved in work that adds significant value to society and should be supported in this choice rather than being pressured into paid employment in order to improve our OECD ranking? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Working for Families certainly supports those families. But I would point out to the member that overall living standards in New Zealand are an issue when it comes to encouraging our own people to stay here or return to live here and to encouraging skilled people to come to live in this country and contribute to our development. That is why I have highlighted the fact that if we could get our rate of women’s participation in the paid workforce up to the level of the top Scandinavian economies our standard of living would lift to the overall benefit of families in the whole economy. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Does she agree that it is paradoxical that the Government subsidises childcare when children are looked after outside the home but offers no similar subsidies or incentives when children are looked after by their own parents in their own home and why will her Government not offer incentives to parents who want to look after their own children on a full-time basis in their own home? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I say again that the Working for Families package is very kind to single-income families to the point where some may say that families with two earners are not as advantaged as they should be. 
Sue Kedgley 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was about what specific incentives the Government would be offering to parents who chose to look after their own children in their own home. I would be grateful if the question could be answered. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think the answer could be developed. 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: The answer is that the Working for Families package is very good for single-income families. I have made that point. It could be seen as an incentive for second earners not to go to work. That is an issue that we need to do some more work on because I want to encourage second earners. However I know that Working for Families is very good for the single-income family. 
Judy Turner 
: Is the Prime Minister aware that the policies of the Scandinavian countries that increase women’s workforce participation that she seeks to mimic are associated with extremely low birth rates such as that in Sweden with 1.5 children per family; if so why is she content to pursue a quick-fix policy of pushing women into work that may serve only to further restrict the vital population growth needed to sustain our economy in the coming years? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Something I will never give a judgment or an opinion on is how many children a family should have. I regard that as being a very personal decision. With regard to the second part of the question it is not this Government that is trying to push people out to work against their will; it is Dr Brash who wants to cut one’s benefit if one does not work. 
Judy Turner 
: Is the Prime Minister aware that last year’s TOWER survey  
What Worries New Zealanders 
 found that spending enough time with children had replaced concerns about money as the No. 1 fear of both men and women? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Getting a work-life balance so people can have their kids and enjoy them and be in the paid workforce if they want to be in it has been a driving motivation for this Government. That is why we have introduced paid parental leave and legislated for the fourth week’s holiday. That is why we have done all sorts of things to help the ordinary family. But I refer the member to some of the case studies in the  
Dominion Post  
today of young mothers who say that they love the opportunity to get out and work and want that choice. I stand for choice. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member is straining my generosity just a little bit. 
Judy Turner 
: Is the Prime Minister aware of the concerns of UK educators that contracting out parenting to schools to run dawn-to-dusk childcare creates psychological issues for children who spend up to 10 hours a day at school and miss out on bonding with their parents? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: All I can say is that in this country today there would be many kids who would be out of their parents’ care from 8 in the morning until 6 at night and we do not have extensive enough before and after school care to make sure that there is a decent job done while hard-working parents go to work.