Returning to Work After Maternity Leave: Childcare and Workplace Flexibility

Abstract

This article explores how responsibilities for child care are managed as part of family decisions made around return to work following a period of maternity leave. We surveyed all women health professionals identified as on maternity leave on payroll records of the Health Department, Western Australia and one private sector national provider of hospital services. Survey questions were designed following a review of the literature and prior empirical work. The design enabled us to collect both quantitative information and interpretive qualitative responses from participants.Over 50% of respondents expected to have child caring provided wholly by family members while 15% anticipated the use of formal arrangements alone. The planned arrangements for care can best be understood within a framework of a 'family budget' of time to be allocated between marketbased work and child caring. Attitudes to child caring are central to this 'time economies' framework. Respondents experienced dissonance between the stated organisational family friendly policy of their workplaces and practices at the management level. Employer centred flexibility often disrupted their child caring arrangements. We identify important employment policy issues for workplaces which would facilitate optimal return to the workforce by professional women following maternity leave.

Parenting Stress and the Use of Formal and Informal Child Care: Associations for Fathers and Mothers

“…Although there have been efforts to reduce costs in recent years, expense remains a barrier for families, particularly those with multiple children (Brady & Perales, 2016). Formal care does not meet the needs of all family types, including those with parents working nonstandard schedules such as nights and weekends (Breunig, Weiss, Yamauchi, Gong, & Mercante, 2011; Nowak, Naude, & Thomas, 2013). A place in formal day care is not always available, especially in a convenient location (Adamson & Brennan, 2014).…”

Health workforce demography: a framework to improve understanding of the health workforce and support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

“…Personal safety is a gendered issue, with female workers being more likely than male ones to experience violence and sexual harassment at work [25]. If suitable arrangements for parental leave, flexible working and childcare are not in place, female health workers may find it difficult to continue working after childbearing [26,27], to the detriment of gender equity and workforce retention. Similarly, cultural expectations that women should care for elderly relatives may disproportionately affect the retention of female health workers [28,29].…”

Grandparental childcare in Australia: gender differences in the correlates of providing regular grandparental care while parents work

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