New research examines what drives mothers' parental leave - a podcast by RNZ

A new study has found most mothers would prefer to take more time off after having a child than the maximum length of parental leave allows. The research from Motu compared mothers' intentions and preferences for parental leave with the leave they actually took after their children were born. Currently 26 weeks of paid parental leave is available, with a year of job-protected leave. The research found, on average, working mothers would prefer to take 69 weeks of leave - about 14 months - but expect to be able to only take about 36 weeks, mainly because of financial constraints. Kathryn speaks with lead researcher Isabelle Sin.

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