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WORKING mothers may be paid up to $600 a week from a special pool of taxpayer money to allow them time off after giving birth.
The Government said that a paid parental leave scheme would be in place by April 1.
Women's Affairs Minister and Alliance MP Laila Harre said the start date had been settled with Finance Minister Michael Cullen. But other details, including the amount of money and the time the scheme would cover, could not be finalised until August.
Mrs Harre announced the start date to coincide with Mother's Day.
Official papers show that the Government is considering introducing a scheme to allow mothers 12 weeks off work while receiving payments equal to 80 per cent of their wages with a maximum limit of $600 a week.
Fathers may also be entitled to two weeks' leave.
Mrs Harre originally wanted 12 weeks' leave paid for by a levy on employers, but Labour, which has promoted six weeks' leave, disagreed and said the money should come from general taxation.
It has been estimated that the Government will have to find up to $60 million a year to pay for the scheme.
It is possible the parental tax credit introduced by National in 1999 could be scrapped to help.
The credit allowed low or middle-income families with at least one parent working a maximum of $150 a week for eight weeks.
Mrs Harre said that no decision on the tax credit had been made.
Charity group Plunket's general manager of clinical services, Angela Baldwin said it was a sign the community supported parenthood.
"It gives women a choice about staying at home and caring for the child for that first three months, and that's a great place to start."
Anne Knowles, executive director of Business New Zealand (formerly the Employers Federation) said employers welcomed the suggestion that parental leave would be paid out of general taxes rather than an employer levy.
But she warned that details about how and when the payment would be made needed to be clearly spelled out to ensure women who took leave returned to their jobs.