Parental leave payment goes up on first birthday

Paid parental leave is a year old today and the weekly payment is going up from $325 to $334.75.

Labour Minister Margaret Wilson said more than 18,000 people had successfully applied for the leave in the past year and more than $54 million had been paid out.

The payment is adjusted each year in line with increases in average weekly earnings.

"About 3900 people are receiving payments at any given time and 98 per cent of these parents are taking the full 12 weeks so they can remain at home with their babies," she said.

Now the scheme has been operating for 12 months the Department of Labour will carry out a review.

Ms Wilson said it would look at extending the eligibility criteria to cover employees who had more than one employer in the preceding 12 months.

It would also consider the possibility of extending eligibility to self-employed people and extending the payment to 14 weeks.

"Any extension of the scheme will depend on available resources," Ms Wilson said.

- NZPA