The Rudd government announced its plan for an 18-week paid parental scheme at the federal minimum wage of about $544 a week last May.

Mr Abbott's proposal instead would be a six months' full-pay parental leave, capped at $150,000 a year.

``I think it's a good idea; it's hard for women to leave work and give up that pay and to live off one salary,'' Mrs Perry, 29, said.

Stay-home mum Mrs Perry has two children Bodhi, 4, and Oaklee, 2 and is seven months pregnant with her third child to husband Corey.

``If I had to go to work after this baby and had another child the idea of getting paid maternity leave would be an awesome thing,'' the former cafe cook said.

``(The Rudd government's proposal) is better than nothing but six months is definitely better on full pay mainly because it supports young families that's the best thing.

``And being a young family I know how hard it can be to live off one wage.''

Mr Abbott plans to introduce a levy on big business to fund the scheme, generating $2.7billion annually.

Narellan Chamber of Commerce president Matt Leighton said Mr Abbott's proposal would be a ``major problem'' for the small and ``micro'' businesses in particular.

``(Mr) Abbott is talking about a six months' parental leave on full pay that's fine if you're a multi-person employer but if you're only very small with one, two, three employees, then it's a major problem because you still have to employ someone to replace that person,'' he said.

Mr Leighton said younger women seeking employment would be skimmed over in favour of ``mature-aged'' women who had already had their children.

He said if another financial crisis hit, businesses that were just ``holding their head above water'' would then need to pay an extra salary resulting in ``big problems''.