Labour’s paternity leave policy is a good one. Finally.

They’ll be relieved commentators like it- they’re clearly trying to change the subject from the GST off fruit and veges policy only two days ago, because it's gone very badly for them.

But I'll happily play the game and change the subject for a bit.

So what they’ve announced is that they’ll fund four weeks paternity leave for the second parent, which in most cases is a dad.

They'll roll it out in stages, two weeks leave from next year, and then a third week in 2025, and the fourth week in 2026.

The truth is that our paid parental leave in New Zealand is actually pretty miserable compared to other developed countries. 

We get 26 weeks at the moment, which sounds not bad- but the amount we get paid is rubbish. And when you add the two together, there are only five countries in the OECD more miserable than us.

Take what we get, triple it, and the Germans still get more than that.

We can do better, and we have to, because we need Kiwis having kids. 

We need to lift our birth rate. We’re not even replacing ourselves at the moment and we’re not going to be doing that unless parents can actually afford to be parents.

Having said that, the policy falls into one of the same traps the GST policy did two days ago.

Which is that it sounds like a great idea- and then you see you’re only getting $4 a week. Same here with this, you’re only getting four weeks. That’s very little.

Also, it doesn’t undo the damage that Labour did to itself by killing Nicola Willis’ bill that would've let parents take up to three months parental leave together. You still can’t do that, you can only have a month together.

And finally, as long as Labour is losing in the polls, everything they do will be judged by whether it will win them the election or not.

And this one, again, will not.

Not enough people are affected by this, and you can tell by the fact that it only costs $35 million in the first year. Again, it's not generous enough.

But on principle, it’s hard to argue against giving the dad or second mum a month paid at home with the family.

LISTEN ABOVE

Labour’s paternity leave policy is a good one. Finally.
They’ll be relieved commentators like it- they’re clearly trying to change the subject from the GST off fruit and veges policy only two days ago, because it's gone very badly for them.
But I'll happily play the game and change the subject for a bit.
So what they’ve announced is that they’ll fund four weeks paternity leave for the second parent, which in most cases is a dad.
They'll roll it out in stages, two weeks leave from next year, and then a third week in 2025, and the fourth week in 2026.
The truth is that our paid parental leave in New Zealand is actually pretty miserable compared to other developed countries. 
We get 26 weeks at the moment, which sounds not bad- but the amount we get paid is rubbish. And when you add the two together, there are only five countries in the OECD more miserable than us.
Take what we get, triple it, and the Germans still get more than that.
We can do better, and we have to, because we need Kiwis having kids. 
We need to lift our birth rate. We’re not even replacing ourselves at the moment and we’re not going to be doing that unless parents can actually afford to be parents.
Having said that, the policy falls into one of the same traps the GST policy did two days ago.
Which is that it sounds like a great idea- and then you see you’re only getting $4 a week. Same here with this, you’re only getting four weeks. That’s very little.
Also, it doesn’t undo the damage that Labour did to itself by killing Nicola Willis’ bill that would've let parents take up to three months parental leave together. You still can’t do that, you can only have a month together.
And finally, as long as Labour is losing in the polls, everything they do will be judged by whether it will win them the election or not.
And this one, again, will not.
Not enough people are affected by this, and you can tell by the fact that it only costs $35 million in the first year. Again, it's not generous enough.
But on principle, it’s hard to argue against giving the dad or second mum a month paid at home with the family. 
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.