A new report has revealed how more gender-equal parental leave would improve the lives of Australian families.

The key findings of the Grattan Institute’s Dad Days: How more gender-equal parental leave could improve the lives of Australian families report includes:

• Federal paid parental leave scheme of six weeks reserved for each parent plus 12 weeks to share between them, paid at the current rate of minimum wage;
• In addition, if both parents use at least six weeks of leave, a bonus of two weeks’ leave would be available to be used by the family;
• Single parents entitlement to the full 26 weeks;
• Eligibility for the income-test based on household income rather than the mother’s income; and
• Evaluation of the new parental leave scheme after three years, and regularly after that, to assess effectiveness.

“To encourage parents to share the leave, the allowance would include a 6-week ‘use it or lose it’ provision for each parent, plus 12 weeks to share between them as best suits their family,” the report summary reads.

“To encourage parents – and especially fathers – to actually take the leave, the government should offer an additional two weeks of bonus leave, which could be used by either parent if both parents take at least six weeks leave.

“In recognition of the extra financial and emotional challenges of solo parenting, the government should give single parents the full 26-week entitlement.”

The expanded scheme, with leave paid at the current rate of the minimum wage, could cost the government an extra $600 million a year.

It also highlights it could also boost GDP by $900 million a year thanks to increased workforce participation by mothers, boosting the average mother’s lifetime earnings by $30,000.

“The international evidence also suggests benefits for fathers’ relationships and life satisfaction, and for child development from greater father engagement in the early years,” it says.

“Boosting parental leave and making it more gender-equal would be good for fathers, mothers, children, and the economy.

“Governments around the world now recognise the significant social and economic benefits of gender-equal paid parental leave. It’s time for Australia to catch up.”

It says Australia currently has one of the least generous parental leave schemes in the developed world, especially for fathers.

Australian women typically do two hours more unpaid work per day than men. And men do about two hours more paid work. This is one of the most gendered labour divides in the developed world – and surveys suggest neither women nor men are happy with it.

Parenting habits formed in the first years of a child’s life tend to persist. For heterosexual couples, this means the mother’s role as dominant carer for a new baby is carried through the child’s first decade and beyond