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Budgeting for Work-Life Balance: The Ideology and Politics of Work and Family Policy in Australia

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  • Hill, E

Abstract

Since its election in 1996 the Howard Government has invested billions of dollars in Australian families with children. Much of this money has been delivered through policies the Government claims will 'support families in the choices they wish to make' about how they combine paid work and family life (Howard 2005). This paper evaluates three areas of Commonwealth budget expenditure on work and family policy: the Family Tax Benefit; the Maternity Payment; and the Child Care Benefi t and Tax Rebate. Analysis of the structure of these benefits highlights how a traditional ideology of gender and gender relations is embedded within the policy framework and delivers greater financial support to households in which women prioritise staying at home to care over paid employment. The policy bias toward traditional gender relations makes government rhetoric about choice problematic and shows that the work and family tensions that exist at the level of the household also exist at the policy level, with negative implications for women's labour market participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Hill, E, 2007. "Budgeting for Work-Life Balance: The Ideology and Politics of Work and Family Policy in Australia," Australian Bulletin of Labour, National Institute of Labour Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 226-245.
    • Handle: RePEc:fli:journl:26193
    Note: Hill, E., 2007. Budgeting for Work-Life Balance: The Ideology and Politics of Work and Family Policy in Australia. Australian Bulletin of Labour, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 226-245.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2328/26193
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    Cited by:

    1. Meg Smith & Kathy Tannous, 2013. "Access to Full-Time Employment - Does Gender Matter?," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 16(2), pages 237-257.
    2. Xiang Wei & Hailin Qu & Emily Ma, 2018. "Household Chores, Time Allocation and Job Performance: An Empirical Study from Chinese Manufacturing Workers," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 1109-1129, October.
    3. Catherine Weiss & Debra Parkinson & Alyssa Duncan, 2015. "Living Longer on Less," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(3), pages 21582440155, July.
    4. Rajni Palriwala, 2019. "Framing Care: Gender, Labour and Governmentalities," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 26(3), pages 237-262, October.
    5. Sandra Buchler & Alfred M. Dockery, 2023. "Women’s work: myth or reality? Occupational feminisation and women’s job satisfaction in Australia," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 26(1), pages 51-83.

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