Vent - My Mother (and her generation?)

NewShadow

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I'm hoping to leave a sign saying "I (still) ain't dead".;)

Fixed it for you

missbiggles1

NewShadow wrote: »

I know it may be controversial (as someone without kids), but I think there's a social and economic value to being a Stay Home Mum/Dad.

I don't think you should necessarily get working age benefits - If you're a couple you should budget and make do given it's a lifestyle choice, but if you have scrimped and saved to give the best home environment to your kids, I think this could reasonably be recognised by a state pension.

If someone isn't working because of illness or caring responsibilities I think that's fair enough - there are other ways of contributing. However, someone who has just been claiming some kind of unemployment benefit (JSA nowadays) and never (or hardly ever) worked will also get a full pension through NI credits.

maman

duchy wrote: »

You are looking at it from a Tory rather than a Socialist viewpoint and the generation you are talking about grew up as the first generation that were guaranteed a pension if their NI contributions were paid -unlike their parents many of whom had no pension.

Private pensions were for the salaried rather than the waged when they were young people starting work. Have attitudes changed since then ? Yes but to despise them as you do for growing put at a time when there was an expectation that your NI contributions were paying for a pension is just plain ignorance on your part.

:eek: you couldn't be more wrong!


I believe in the welfare state, but for the purpose it was intended not as an optional lifestyle choice.

Person_one

missbiggles1 wrote: »

However, someone who has just been claiming some kind of unemployment benefit (JSA nowadays) and never (or hardly ever) worked will also get a full pension through NI credits.

In theory, anybody receiving JSA has satisfied the job centre staff that they are taking adequate steps to seek work and would take work if it were offered. So (again in theory!) its completely fair that they get NI credits rather than further disadvantages due to unemployment.

FBaby

but if you have scrimped and saved to give the best home environment to your kids, I think this could reasonably be recognised by a state pension.

Except there is no evidence -just a lot of opinions - that being a SAHP means you are giving the best home environment for your kids.

Andypandyboy

FBaby wrote: »

Except there is no evidence -just a lot of opinions - that being a SAHP means you are giving the best home environment for your kids.

Well, on a basic level, for the average loving parent, I can't see that anyone can argue that their child is better off being looked after by someone else.

If that means you live in dire poverty, or the sahp can't cope mentally without the stimulus of work or the demands of a small child, then the argument is different.

missbiggles1

Andypandyboy wrote: »

Well, on a basic level, for the average loving parent, I can't see that anyone can argue that their child is better off being looked after by someone else.

If that means you live in dire poverty, or the sahp can't cope mentally without the stimulus of work or the demands of a small child, then the argument is different.

Perhaps not better off but at least as well.

Andypandyboy

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Perhaps not better off but at least as well.

Maybe as well by someone who does it for love of the child, not by someone for whom it is a job.

Person_one

Andypandyboy wrote: »

Well, on a basic level, for the average loving parent, I can't see that anyone can argue that their child is better off being looked after by someone else.

Its not 24/7, unless you're talking about boarding schools!

NewShadow

FBaby wrote: »

Except there is no evidence -just a lot of opinions - that being a SAHP means you are giving the best home environment for your kids.

*cough*Does Early Maternal Employment Harm Child Development? An Analysis of the Potential Benefits of Leave Taking (University of Chicago)*cough*

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/345563?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Results suggest that...work in the first year of a child’s life has detrimental effects. Where significant, the results also indicate negative effects of maternal employment in the child’s first quarter of life...However, the negative effects of maternal marketplace work are partially offset by positive effects of increased family income.

*cough* The Effects of Stay-at-Home Parents on Children’s Long-Run Educational Outcomes (University of Stavanger and Torbjørn Hægeland at Statistics Norway) *cough*

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/675070?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

We find a significant positive treatment effect on older siblings’ tenth-grade GPA, and this effect seems to be largely driven by mother’s reduced labor force participation and not by changes in family income or father’s labor force participation.