Childcare is bloody expensive!

bugslet

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Same as happens with women in other jobs surely?

Female dominated professions and jobs have managed to learn how to deal with the fact that some women have children without going bust or collapsing, maybe the male dominated professions could learn something from them.

Well I explained why it's difficult but you chopped the quote.

I employ red-squirrel ( I think you are female IIRC) as a long distrance truck driver. Next week you are going to go to Milan and back, then you tell me you have an antenatal appointment on Thursday morning. You will be around about Dijon at that point.

Do I pay you to stand all week. Shall I park the truck up all week? As Bugs trucking is highly specialised, there are no agencies that can supply the drivers with correct qualifications.

As I said, if you are an office worker, then making provision for antenatal classes is probably relatively easy (never done it, all my office staff are male), but working away all week causes problems.

ViolaLass

bugslet, employers are allowed to refuse the time off for a certain appt if they have reasonable grounds. Yours sound reasonable - and also possible to work around by getting enough notice.

Red-Squirrel_2

bugslet wrote: »

Well I explained why it's difficult but you chopped the quote.

I employ red-squirrel ( I think you are female IIRC) as a long distrance truck driver. Next week you are going to go to Milan and back, then you tell me you have an antenatal appointment on Thursday morning. You will be around about Dijon at that point.

Do I pay you to stand all week. Shall I park the truck up all week? As Bugs trucking is highly specialised, there are no agencies that can supply the drivers with correct qualifications.

As I said, if you are an office worker, then making provision for antenatal classes is probably relatively easy (never done it, all my office staff are male), but working away all week causes problems.

Hospitals manage it, schools manage it, carer agencies manage it. They aren't flexible in their needs, their rotas/schedules are planned well in advance.

Do you really not hire women of child bearing age just because you don't want to have to deal with this? I have to say I find that despicable, especially as you're a woman yourself and would have been a victim of your own discrimination if you'd applied to work for your company!

If women stopped having children, it wouldn't be long before there was nobody to drive your trucks.

onlyroz

Comms69 wrote: »

Is that anecdotal evidence? Or do you have some statistics?


https://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2015/feb/11/lack-of-female-headteachers-gender-diversity-education


This article suggests that 65% of head teachers are women.....

And what proportion of primary teachers as a whole are women?

bugslet

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Hospitals manage it, schools manage it, carer agencies manage it. They aren't flexible in their needs, their rotas/schedules are planned well in advance.

Do you really not hire women of child bearing age just because you don't want to have to deal with this? I have to say I find that despicable, especially as you're a woman yourself and would have been a victim of your own discrimination if you'd applied to work for your company!

If women stopped having children, it wouldn't be long before there was nobody to drive your trucks.

I'm missing the bit where I said I don't employ women of child bearing age. Possibly because I haven't said it. I have a ladydriver that celebrated 20 years with me this year and she is now 50.

So quit with calling someone dispicable:( just for pointing out that dealing with maternity employment law is difficult for some jobs.

As I said 1% of women choose truck driving as a profession - other jobs are available that have more rigid hours, so that would be easier if you were on permanant nights for example, or a 4 on 4 off shift pattern. European driving is by nature difficult to work a personal life round, which explains why it pays more.

Never having crossed the maternity bridge so to speak, I'm not up on all the laws; I suspect at some point it wouldn't be possible to climb up onto a trailer, I'm not sure what happens in that situation.

Schools, hospitals, care agencies are in a fixed location in the same country. It's a bit different if your job means you travel outside the UK.

Thank you ViolaLass, should it ever happen I will gen up on maternity law.

fred246

ViolaLass wrote: »

But the difference in stress levels may not be directly connected to whether they chose to stay at home or not.

The stress was always linked to who was going to pick the kids up from childcare. Two of them working with no fixed finish times and childcare that insisted they were picked up at a certain time. I just concentrated on my job and the wife concentrated on the kids. It was easy.

Comms69

onlyroz wrote: »

And what proportion of primary teachers as a whole are women?

74% - literally you had to click on the article, it's right there in the second paragraph.

Red-Squirrel_2

bugslet wrote: »

I'm missing the bit where I said I don't employ women of child bearing age. Possibly because I haven't said it. I have a ladydriver that celebrated 20 years with me this year and she is now 50.

Why on earth did you make that comment then?

Not helpful!

Red-Squirrel_2

fred246 wrote: »

The stress was always linked to who was going to pick the kids up from childcare. Two of them working with no fixed finish times and childcare that insisted they were picked up at a certain time. I just concentrated on my job and the wife concentrated on the kids. It was easy.

I assume that if your wife had a job she loved and wished to continue with it that you would have happily swapped roles then?

Comms69

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Why on earth did you make that comment then?

Not helpful!

I thought it was very helpful.