Legislation around pregnancy and work

[Lou2U]

You misread the quote. If kids can help save the environment, by such things as forgoing straws, then they can also think about the future far earlier and therefore not need maternity leave.

That’s a massive stretch to make.

When I studied the topic of how you reward your employees at university, there was an emphasis on giving rewards that are not discriminatory. I do question the fairness of giving one person paternity leave and not giving the guy who wants to go hang-gliding for many months the same opportunities.

Maternity and paternity pay is not a reward, it’s an entitlement for employees. Hang-gliding is not.

Sometimes you can love mothers by teaching them skills as they grow up so they don’t have to ask others for money.

Again, they’re not asking. Mothers are legally entitled to receive pay when they leave to have a baby.

I think there’s a lot of problems with taking the word of a seven year old and expecting them to have that future they talk about. There are even more problems when you expect a 7 year old to fully comprehend in concrete terms, what it means to be a mother. That’s not something a 7 year old can do, and at 7, nor should they be attempting to.

 

[TheLittleLady]

I’m reading a “American Protestant Work Ethic” in the extreme undertone from our OP.

Heck, take it one step further, repeal the child labor laws and put the 7 year old to earning her keep!

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

You misread the quote. If kids can help save the environment, by such things as forgoing straws, then they can also think about the future far earlier and therefore not need maternity leave.

No. Not using a straw is about thinking globally, not locally and is an immediate and real result. You still see a straw holder full of straws. Paying for maternity leave 20+ years down the road is absurd.

Sometimes you can love mothers by teaching them skills as they grow up so they don’t have to ask others for money.

Wait what?

You’re not asking others for money. You’re asking an employer to flesh out a benefit they should be paying to ensure a healthy and well-balanced workforce. We know the best employers do this voluntarily. Penalizing large employers who pay welfare-wages should be the government’s first interest.

When I studied the topic of how you reward your employees at university, there was an emphasis on giving rewards that are not discriminatory. I do question the fairness of giving one person paternity leave and not giving the guy who wants to go hang-gliding for many months the same opportunities.

So cover things that fall under FMLA. Hang-gliding is NOT FMLA. A baby, adoption, illness or being a caregiver are all situations that companies could do more caring about. Cargiving is not a romp through the dazies.

 

[Lara]

Zanthippe: I don’t think it’s absurd to think ahead. I also believe that indeed you ARE asking for employers to dish out for something you and your family should be able to afford.

Little Lady: I do believe in child labor. My father had to work to earn his keep at thirteen. My mother was even younger. And many of my siblings had to work from the age of nine. Work is a very healthy thing.

My senior friend is complaining that her grandson plays video games for twelve hours on a Saturday. Is that better than my siblings working on a Saturday when they were young, saving money and contributing to society?

Lou, you keep stressing that it is an entitlement, that it is a fait accompli, which it is legally in your country. My argument is that it should not be. Also just last month, an eight year old boy from another family, not mine, commented that when he is married he will teach things to his wife so she can teach the kids. His family is homeschooling him and so he’s learning early how to plan ahead. He already knows that he will have a leadership role as head of his future family. Now, that’s his family’s philosophy, and has nothing to do with me, for they belong to some unusual religion which I haven’t figured out. Just so you know, that came out of his mouth with absolutely no prompting from me.

 

[TheLittleLady]

he will teach things to his wife so she can teach the kids

wow. I hope you corrected him, told him that women are smart and not children.

 

[Lou2U]

My senior friend is complaining that her grandson plays video games for twelve hours on a Saturday. Is that better than my siblings working on a Saturday when they were young, saving money and contributing to society?

It doesn’t have to be one extreme or the other. Personally I think that school, homework and chores constitute a child’s “work”. That is their contribution to society. Children are not adults - not physically nor mentally and psychologically. They need to be treated as children.

Also just last month, an eight year old boy from another family, not mine, commented that when he is married he will teach things to his wife so she can teach the kids. His family is homeschooling him and so he’s learning early how to plan ahead.

Yes - see, he is being taught by his family, and is copying how his family operates. That is one thing to say, but does he understand the principles behind it? The mechanisms of how it should work? The actual actions of what that means? I very much doubt it.

Lou, you keep stressing that it is an entitlement, that it is a fait accompli, which it is legally in your country. My argument is that it should not be.

I disagree, strongly. There are many benefits to giving women maternity pay, for everyone. It guarantees stability for the mother and her family, it means the employer is more likely to retain her as a member of staff. It allows a father time to get to know the new baby, and to help the mother recover. It means the mother can focus on recovery time and have less stress.

 

[Lara]

Ha ha. No I didn’t correct him for it wasn’t my place to go against his parent’s beliefs. I know they’re traditional and have ten kids.

I think it’s fine that there are some traditional views floating around. I don’t think you have to “stamp out” divergent opinions like the feminists do.