The Impact of Change of the Parental Allowance on Decision of Mothers.

Abstract By the end of 2007 the parental allowance was so high that many beneficiaries, especially those without any or low qualifications, never received a similar income in their job, which obviously resulted in a situation that some parents found it financially disadvantageous to return back to work. The new system of maternity leave makes it possible to draw the parental allowance during a shorter period of time whereas the amount paid differs depending on the time during which it is received. The objective of the graduation work was to map out the situation regarding the drawing of the parental allowance and reasons for choosing various options. The following hypotheses were determined based on this objective. 1st: Women who have the employment contract for a limited period of time pick a shorter alternative of parental leave than women with a contract for an unlimited period of time. 2nd: Women with a higher income select a shorter parental leave than women with a lower income. To obtain the necessary data to fulfill the determined objectives, the author used the questionnaire technique. The questionnaire was anonymous, it was filled in by women who have recently delivered a baby and it comprised 12 questions. 159 questionnaires were distributed during two months in 2008. The determined hypotheses were confirmed by the research. The results showed that the most preferred period of parental leave is three years with an income of 7600 CZK. As a reason for choosing this option the respondents answered that their employer ``reserves`` a job for them for three years and they can devote all their time to the baby. They find the amount of the allowance satisfactory. Most of them indicated they were yet to decide whether they were going to earn extra money during the parental leave and they did not know what they would do. If mothers need to leave their baby, people from their families usually babysit. Most of them would not trust a nurse. It was mostly young women (18 {--} 25 years of age) who indicated that they would not mind a nurse looking after their child. Changes which occurred in the field of parental leave and parental allowance need to be accompanied with relevant changes in other fields related to combining work and family, such as pre-school facilities and nursing centres for children younger than three years of age and also more flexible working hours. Family and employee policy should pay more attention to programmes supporting return to the labour market after the parental leave