ALMOST 57 per cent of Australian women believe taking maternity leave will be detrimental to their careers
ALMOST 57 per cent of Australian women believe taking maternity leave will be detrimental to their careers. According to a survey, women are being forced to choose between life and work as 34 per cent who had children had not taken maternity leave while 26 per cent were not paid for their time off work. As a result, the lack of work-life balance has made women in the engineering sector more likely to leave employment at a much faster rate (39 per cent) than their male colleagues.
Furthermore, more than 25 per cent of professional women reported they were not receiving equal pay for equal work. This figure stood at 40 per cent for business and senior management qualified women. Moreover, 41 per cent of the 2000 respondents claimed they were not confident in negotiating fair pay and conditions standards as a result of the WorkChoices legislation.
Source: Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia
