Recently I read a letter to a newspaper where a woman about to go on maternity leave was told by a young male colleague 'I wish I could have six months off' - to this she replied 'only a man could think having a newborn is time off!'..
Whilst I don't agree with that I do sometimes wonder why we as a nation do not regard children and the raising of them not just in terms of an individual's choice but also in the wider arena of society needs people to have children to supply the workers of the future who can then pay taxes.
Yet often maternity or paternity leave is as this lad pointed out seen as a holiday or similar - this same lad whether or not he himself has children will one day rely on the children of others, be it as his GP, Police Officer and so on.
2007-04-13 08:38:12 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
I should add that I personally strongly consider parental leave to be a right and not a perk. People are needed by business to generate wealth in the first place and therefore business I feel should bare the externality cost of caring for and nuturing the future generators of that wealth. JMHO!
2007-04-13 08:40:16 · update #1
To the lad who cites 'personal choice to have a baby' below - you are missing the point.. if people did NOT choose to have children and bare the expense both time and monetary wise to raise them then the employer would not have employees from which to generate wealth in the first place. Children and having them IS an individual choice but ALSO a societal requirement - the 2 go hand in hand and are interdependent so to say choose family or career is near sighted.
2007-04-13 08:53:07 · update #2
These days everyone seems to want to have their cake and eat it!
Why should the government/businesses pay for you to have time off to raise a child that you decided to have?
Why should you expect your job to still be there after that amount of time off?
Work or kids make a decision....which is more important to you?
I pay my council tax which includes free schooling for all children, yet I have no kids. Do I get a rebate?
2007-04-13 08:41:58 · answer #1 · answered by bumblecherry 5 · 1⤊ 5⤋
Hi Smiley.
This is very much a matter of personal opinion. Our children are grown up and flown the nest. There were no such benefits when our kids were born. We had to get on with it.
We will not be having any more children so it could be argued that why should I have to cover for a colleague because she is having a baby. It was her choice so she takes the consequences.
You then have the reasoned argument that you put forward. It really boils down to the haves and have nots.
For my own view I think some time off for child birth purposes are fine but there is no way an employer should have to pay for the privelidge and then possibly have to go to the expense of hiring a temporary replacement which means an increase in costs.
It is always going to be a moot point but a thought provoking issue. Well done .
2007-04-13 23:59:47 · answer #2 · answered by LYN W 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As an assistant district attorney I work about as hard as my wife who takes careof out two kids...its a tough job in of itself.
It is a government protected right...you will never get rid of the attitudes of people who are against maternity leave...I guess the options are...no children...no working women...or children put into daycare from day one....
Anyone who doesn't think those3 options are silly is out of touch.
2007-04-14 16:35:58 · answer #3 · answered by Dr. Luv 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think that the difference you are refering to is what women get for their leave as opposed to getting the leave itself. For example; how much are they paid while on maternity leave and for how long.
It is certainly something that needs to be addressed. I think times were better when the mother was allowed to stay home and raise the kids. Having both spouses working is not helping families. It would be one thing if it allowed couples to retire sooner, but that is not the case.
And just to clarify, I am totally behind women in the workplace. I myself am a stay at home dad. I still work, but my wife provides the primary income.
2007-04-13 08:45:23 · answer #4 · answered by Rick T 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
u r totally right.....
when my brother was born i was only 8 yrs old
and my mom and dad barely had any time to themselves becuz they were busy with my brother and with me
it is a right if their were no leaves, who was going to raise the kids so early on
and either way, men and women help everyone on the planet...... they produce children who will be needed as workers or create new jobs for others
everyone on this planet has helped us in someway or the other..... they produce children who will be workers or create new jobs such as buisnessmen
2007-04-13 08:51:04 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because it's not a right. Being free to have a child at a time of your choosing (biology permitting) could be considered a right, but how you balance that choice with your career is up to you. You can seek out a job with paid 'ternity leave, or you can simply leave a job to raise your child. Your choice. Your child will bear the consequences, good or bad.
2007-04-13 08:43:27 · answer #6 · answered by B.Kevorkian 7 · 2⤊ 4⤋
Because there is seriously something wrong with this country's priorities (I'm in the US btw)!!
Some countries allow women to have a year off, I believe with pay and are allowed to come back to their position. Sweden is one of them I think. Europe is moving away from the family friendly model, sadly, to follow the money/power driven ways of Americans. I guess they want to be the focus of the economic saying "if America sneezes, we all catch a cold."
Where I work, the maternity leave follows FMLA which is max 12 weeks, provided you have the vacation and sick time to do that. Leave without pay is an option, just not viable for many. By law the employer must let the employee return to that position or an equivalent one. Recently, my workplace has given us 3 weeks of paid leave but we must use 3 weeks of leave on our own time first.
The choose work or family thing doesn't quite hold anymore. It may have at one time, when women just did secretarial work and got paid ALOT less than men(we still get paid less, but the gap is closing). I would choose family in a heartbeat and never work again if that were financially feasable. Many people are in this boat, at least in the US. Quitting my job would mean the mortgage wouldn't get paid and I would lose great medical insurance which is absolutely needed to get by here. Having children is a choice, yes. It is mine and my husband's choice, not yours (other posters) or my employers' and I shouldn't be punished for it.
It is rather childish to whine about others taking advantage of government enforced time off when they made a choice as well. I could whine about the tax breaks people get for buying hybrids, etc. They'd say, buy a hybrid and I'd say I don't want one. I can't complain! As far as those people who whine about picking up others' slack...you shouldn't be so quick to judge. You may have some kind of accident or health issue (i.e. cancer) one day that requires you to be out and others to pick up your slack. Bet you would want people to be understanding and not spiteful and whiny about picking up your slack for a few months. At least maternity leave is scheduled for the most part. Yours would be unscheduled and leave alot of loose ends for others to tie up.
All the opponents of maternity leave want at best for parents to quit or at worst, they want to choose how long it takes for someone else to recover and make the choice for the woman about breastfeeding. The typical recovery for vaginal birth is 1-2 weeks and 6 for c-section, but at those times, the baby is still breastfeeding every few hours or so (not to mention the hormones are still out of balance), so the employer who forces the employee back to work at those times would probably also require the woman to stop breastfeeding else they'd have to allow several times a day for pumping, which wouldn't happen if they are so hell bent on the employee returning to work! If I made the choice to not have kids or came back when my incision was still taped up, hormones out of whack and had to quit breastfeeding because I had to be back at work in a week or two and one of my maternity leave hating co-workers (if I had any) got cancer I'd probably want to say good luck with that surgery, chemo, etc, see you in two weeks 'cause that's all I'm picking up your slack for. Come on, people! That's ridiculous! Not respecting legit reasons for time off is childish and would lead to a really hostile work environment for all. It would be one thing if I was allowed 3 months to goof off, but that's just not the case. I saved up my vacation time, meaning I sacrificed a few weeks off here and there where I could have gone to see relatives or go to the Caribbean (which anti-maternity leave folks would have been fine with most likely) to go on maternity leave. I didn't just burn the company's time or get it for free. Hey, some folks go on "sabbatical" for 6 months and I've heard of quite a few that were more like vacations with a little work mixed in!
A holiday indeed!! A holiday where you are either painfully learning to breastfeed or elbow deep in infant poop 22 hours a day all while recovering from major abdominal surgery(c-section). And then at 6 weeks postpartum, I got a severe breast abcess and had to have surgery, so 2 of those weeks I was caring for my newborn with flulike symptoms (1 week of antibiotics and a partial week of IV antibiotics in hospital). When I came home, I was dealing with a drain in my breast, still trying to breastfeed, care for the baby and dress and clean my wounds. The week before I went back to work, I went to my final inscision check. Yes, I took the full 3 months off.
A holiday indeed! No man could handle what we do and keep a smile on their face so as not to upset the baby no matter how tired or in pain we are.
2007-04-13 08:41:47 · answer #7 · answered by tcdrtw 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Choose a career or a family.
Why should an employer pay you for missing work while YOU start a family? It was YOUR choice to have a baby.
2007-04-13 08:47:43 · answer #8 · answered by redcar_rebel 2 · 2⤊ 5⤋