An Australian housewife has accused the Albanian government of “discrimination” after discovering her husband is no longer entitled to paid parental leave because she does not work.
In the past, Queensland mother-of-four Hope Gardner and her family took advantage of Centrelink’s Dad and Partner Pay program, which gave fathers and partners not working or taking leave up to two weeks’ pay to care for a new son. .
But Dad and Partner Pay was replaced by the new paid parental leave scheme in July 2023, making her husband ineligible for any payments because Ms Gardner does not work.
The Gardners only discovered the problem when they went to apply last month, three weeks after the birth of their fourth child.
Gardner took to TikTok on Tuesday to express his frustration: “Please help me make this make sense.”
‘We, like my husband and I, are no longer entitled to receive any payment for parental leave, payment for dad and partner, any type of payment for time off when the baby arrives, because I don’t work.
“I haven’t worked for six years, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom and literally no income or anything like that. My husband works full time.
Queensland stay-at-home mother Hope Gardner expressed her surprise at learning her husband was ineligible for parental leave payments in a TikTok video this week.
The mother of four, who is expecting her fourth child in just a few weeks, discovered they were not eligible for paid parental leave when they went to apply for it last month.
‘Now the rules have changed: since I don’t work, he also doesn’t have the right to take time off or receive any help from the government.
‘Isn’t this discrimination? I honestly don’t understand it.’
Some comments on the post were unsympathetic, with critics saying Ms Gardner’s family should not feel entitled to the payments if she is a full-time mother.
“Well, yes, paid parental leave is for working mothers who leave work,” said one.
«Paid parental leave is used to cover the expenses incurred if one of the parents has to be absent from work. “If one parent is not working, lost wages do not need to be covered,” a second wrote.
Ms Gardner said it was “unfair” that Dad and Partner Pay had been quietly scrapped
But Ms Gardner told Daily Mail Australia that people “hadn’t understood what she was saying” and maintained it was “unfair” Dad and Partner Pay had been quietly scrapped.
“I have known for six years that I am not entitled to payments and I do not expect any payments for myself,” he said.
‘I was just sharing that it is unfair that my husband is now ineligible just because I don’t work.
“It’s a shame that people didn’t understand what I was trying to say or didn’t communicate it well enough.”