AUTHORS Title Exploring the Work-Family Policies Mothers Say Would Help After the Birth of a Child

Increased rates of employment amongst mothers with young children over recent years has stimulated debate about how governments and employers can support mothers to effectively combine paid work with caring for young children. This paper examines mothers ’ perceived usefulness of a range of work-family policies, by considering the extent to which they have said particular policies would have helped them in the period after the birth. The 2005 Parental Leave in Australia Survey (PLAS) is used to analyse the views of mothers of children aged 15 to 29 months. The policy options addressed are: better access to part-time work; family leave options; better breastfeeding facilities at work; and more accessible, affordable or better quality child care. Mothers who returned to full-time work were the most likely to have expressed that these work-family policies would have helped them. Childcare – especially affordable childcare – stands out as the policy perceived as most useful to mothers, regardless of their paid work status. 1