Who would hire a woman worker - Maternity pay to Treble !

SingleSue

You and me both bathgatebuyer..although my equipment was removed in the end so I wish I could flash a hysterectomy certificate to prove that I can no longer have the little darlings.

Well that is if they can get over the fact I have 3 little darlings in the first place.....

bathgatebuyer

As an aside - it's a really weird thing having people constantly saying to you, "Oh some day you'll might the right man and you'll want kids...............when your bioloigical clock starts ticking.....................you just haven't met the right man yet.........................I'm sure the doctors have it wrong...............................there was this woman on TV once was told she couldn't have kids........................."

ARGH! My best mate is one of the worst offenders, "Once you meet the right man, you'll have kids some day". :rolleyes:

SingleSue

I get a version of that as I have 3 boys....at the time of my hysterectomy, there was an offer of a slightly less radical operation (although the medics were not too happy about doing that) and my parents kept asking if I was sure I didn't want to have that instead as I had 3 boys and might want a girl.

When my sister in law got pregnant with a girl, my parents kept asking if I was sure I had made the right decision and was I broody.

I have never regretted my decision, it took a lot of stress out from the cancer scares (treatment had to be given in the previous year) and the thought of having a child that was disabled like my last two.

mewbie_2

SingleSue wrote: »

my parents kept asking if I was sure I had made the right decision and was I broody...

What is it with parents? Why are they such gits?

edit: this is a 'jokey' throwaway statement based very loosely on some (not all) parents ability to undermine and embarass their offspring at every turn as though they have the right. Any resemblance to forum members parents is entirely coincidental.

lostinrates

mewbie wrote: »

LIR - no one - but no one - apologises to mewbie.

Yeah? Well I did, and would again, so put that in your pipe and smoke it!:p;)

fc123

Sapphire wrote: »

I disagree (well, for me and others around me). I think having children can actually prevent humans (especially women) from achieving their potential. I know if I had children I would not be able to focus properly on either them or the other productive things I do in life – but then I am an 'all or nothing person'.

And I definitely don't think you should have them if you don't have an inclination to do so, just because pressure is put on you to follow the herd. I would hope some of us have evolved enough to utilize our brain, rather than to merely follow instinct. I do really worry about the state of the planet, and think it is debatable whether one should bring children into this world when the human population is already so huge. Thinking as I do, it would be very selfish of me to procreate.

I so disagree with the above....but I haven't read the whole thread yet...and I may not either.


Kids take up lots of time (and the OH's can be very time consuming also) but an average life is about 70 odd years long (50 of it as an adult) so, one can fit loads of stuff in.


And what exactly is 'Full Potential''? Bit meaningless really.

Did I reach my 'full potential'' raising a lad to 21, fully functioning adult male ready to contribute to society or as a business owner, making some pretty (but, on the whole, useless items to sell) paying taxes (lots and lots of taxes) and supporting ourselves in a modest lifestyle?

olly300

leveller2911 wrote: »

What percentage of women who have children work with "disturbed teenagers"? , you accuse me of "nonsense" :rolleyes: .Your actually saying that because 0.0000000000001% of women work with disturbed kids everyone should get "PAID" maternity..Sorry I don't think your right.I believe maternity leave is RIGHT and JUST ,I just think the money could be better spent.
You should go into politics, your very good at twisting things , or are you already in politics:D

I was giving you an example of why we have maternity leave for health and safety reasons.

I could talk about women who work with chemicals or those who have to do heavy lifting as part of their job but that was the first example that popped into my head of why we have the laws. Yes I know lots of women do office based jobs without heavy lifting, lots of physical exertion, violent clients/customers or dealing with chemicals but not every women does. However I also know some women who regularly did very long hours in office based jobs putting themselves and their unborn child at risk due to the amount of stress their employers caused them.

Anyway lots of the laws in this country protect the minority.

Also don't forget that not every woman is lucky enough to have a smooth and uncomplicated birth regardless of what job they were doing before they were pregnant and how many children they had before without problems.

olly300

squirrelchops wrote: »

Bring it on...... maternity pay is the only reason i am going to go and work for a year when I graduate in 2010 before I have kids! Otherwise would consider going for it now but losing out on 90% of pay is too much

Do i sound awful and using the system....well good! Why not! i chose not to have kids until now (will be mid 30s) so I could get a degree for better job prospects in the future, have paid my taxes and not had any money from the government until my student loans so there you are. Triple the weeks for 90% maternity pay...hurrah!

Luckily my degree is in a field where there are always mammoth job shortages so before anyone is cocky and posts' if you can get a job'...I will!

Before you get excited if you are on a proper graduate scheme or in a high paying career you will find that maternity pay is peanuts compared to what you were earning before.

flutter-by

I think it's a fantastic idea increasing the maternity pay. Going on my own experiences, this would make life a bit easier for new parents. Money worries is the main problem of relationship breakdowns, along with the stress of a brand new crying baby 24/7.

The first 2 years of a child's life if the most important, as this is the time they learn the most and grow the most.

Can I also ask, the people that have condemned the increased maternity, were both their parents working full time?

Sapphire

Really2 wrote: »

Not having children stops people existing.

Perhaps that might be a good thing giving the way we are destroying the planet.

What is a man's and womans "potential" we are just animal on a planet with many other animals.

OK – to put it more clearly, having children can stop people (specifically women) from developing, because much of their time and energy can be taken up with looking after their children. (If you believe that procreation is your main reason for existence, then of course you will try to use any excuse you can to deny this fact.)

I agree that we are just another animal species. However, the difference is that we allegedly have brains that allow us to engage in other pastimes than merely breeding, eating and drinking – like creating great work of architecture and plastic arts, writing fine books involving much thought, making scientific discoveries, and so on.