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No one should be paid for having kids. It's up to the couple to plan how they will work their career around their children and pregnancy and childbirth are not major illnesses that require someone to be off for 18 weeks. Why not 18 years because that's the time it requires to raise a child?
Also mothers should not expect their coworkers to give up vacations and weekends and their own time off to spend with their kids. Too often a self-centered woman expects exactly that - that everyone else will be forced to cancel vacation plans because they intend to have 3 full months off for their own vacation. Other children end up with no time to spend with their parents.
It's great to want to stay home all the time with your children - and if you want to do this, then just do it but it's selfish to expect others must give up their time and do your job for you so only you have this luxury.
I'm not saying that women shouldn't have children. But they simply can't expect that the unpaid 52 week leave will have no negative affects on their careers.
Imagine if the CEO of BP got pregnant when the oil spill happened.
I don't know about Australia, but in the US the women that take extended leave do not have professional careers to speak of. The data in census is pretty clear on that. Professional women take, on average, 3 months. My own boss was back in 4-5 weeks.
I don't have children, but I take no issue with my many colleagues that go on maternity leave. Both genders at my co are offered paid leave when they have a child.
I'm not saying that women shouldn't have children. But they simply can't expect that the unpaid 52 week leave will have no negative affects on their careers.
Imagine if the CEO of BP got pregnant when the oil spill happened.
Well as you're in neither the USA or Australia I really wonder why you're so concerned about what those countries do.
What's the rules in Canada regarding maternity/paternity leave? (and btw there IS paternity leave in Oz)
I'm not saying that women shouldn't have children. But they simply can't expect that the unpaid 52 week leave will have no negative affects on their careers.
Imagine if the CEO of BP got pregnant when the oil spill happened.
well, you did say it's their fault.
Yes, it can be difficult when they return to work.
It is a reality of life. Women bear children. They also contribute to the workforce. Until men can have children, I suggest we work with women to ensure they are not lost to industries.
My job (at my level) is shift work around the clock. A lot of people work different shifts around their childcare. A lot of my assistants are men married to nurses, and some interesting schedules have been worked out. One guy (an assistant) married a doctor. She works four days a week, and he works a special weekend deal- work every weekend, get paid for three shifts while working two.
I honestly think there can be more egalitarianism in working-class couples due to shift work and a need for two incomes. Not "careers," but jobs.
Regarding Social Security, I doubt anyone ever said, "Honey, Social Security needs more workers. Let's go upstairs." People have kids because they want to, not because society wants them to or needs them or doesn't need them. Regarding a dearth of workers, after the great Babyboom Dieoff (which I'll be smack in the middle of) there won't be a need for a huge cohort of workers. Maybe the system can be sustainable and not ever-larger cohorts as has been the case up 1957 or so. (The actual end of the baby boom).
If the U.S. wants more young people, there's always immigration. Look around.
1) We didn't have this "problem" 50 years ago because we didn't really have 2-career families.
2) Why we have 2-career families now is not simply "feminism", it's that most people cannot easily afford any other option. And don't tell me that times aren't "different" in that regard, housing is MUCH more expensive relative to income than it was in say 1950 and for many careers you NEED monthly expenses like Internet and cell phones that you didn't have decades ago.
3) However, work and careers take more and more of people's time than ever.
Why do I say this? Because if we take the OP's attitute toward this, while it is "effiicient" in terms of economic theory and how capitalism works, what will happen is that for the most part only "welfare bums" will have kids (because no one else will be able to afford or have time for kids) and there may be a big societal issue "down the road" (I say MAY because I will not simply assume that all lower-class kids will continue the cycle of welfare, etc.).
Yes, women still bear the children (if any childbearing is going on at all). But that doesn't mean the woman needs to be the one to stay home for primary caretaking after recovering from the physical birth. That is a choice (assuming there are two people involved).
1) We didn't have this "problem" 50 years ago because we didn't really have 2-career families.
2) Why we have 2-career families now is not simply "feminism", it's that most people cannot easily afford any other option. And don't tell me that times aren't "different" in that regard, housing is MUCH more expensive relative to income than it was in say 1950 and for many careers you NEED monthly expenses like Internet and cell phones that you didn't have decades ago.
3) However, work and careers take more and more of people's time than ever.
Why do I say this? Because if we take the OP's attitute toward this, while it is "effiicient" in terms of economic theory and how capitalism works, what will happen is that for the most part only "welfare bums" will have kids (because no one else will be able to afford or have time for kids) and there may be a big societal issue "down the road" (I say MAY because I will not simply assume that all lower-class kids will continue the cycle of welfare, etc.).
However, one of the reasons things are much more expensive related to income is feminism. When women started working more, housing prices went up. It was assumed you would have a dual income. My feminist history teacher explained it a bit better, but I forget all the details.
I don't think childless workers should have to sacrifice for someone who wants children. It is a lifestyle choice. If you want a child, you make the sacrifices that go along with it.
Workers that have children should make the sacrifice, after all, they will also benefit from those sacrifices..........like having someone there to look out for them and care for them when they are old.
How do the childless benefit from someone else having a child? Social Security? Paying to educate other peoples children evens that one out.
You want the day off because your child is sick? Do I get the day off if one of my pets is sick? Fair is fair. You love your child, I love my dog........no difference. I take one of my vacation days to care for my dog........you take one of your vacation days to care for your child. It's a lifestyle choice.
If a childless worker gets sick.........they go on sick leave until a Dr. says they are able to come back to work and do their job. If a woman has a child, it should be the same, sick leave until a Dr. says she is able to come back and do her job.
Parents, when you decided to have a child, YOU decided to take on that responsibility..........don't try to push that resposibility off on others.
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