I have had my parents visiting this weekend and we have been discussing the welfare reforms and where the jobs are going to come from. I thought I would share my idea with you.
Currently the Government are keen to get everyone out to work including parents. Whilst I agree that everyone should have the CHOICE (note the word choice!) to work - I don't think that this is the answer to our current problems.
I would like to see the Government increasing tax credits to allow one parent to stay at home longer. This could still work out cheaper than paying towards our childcare costs as in the present system. I think this should be available for either mum or dad but I appreciate it may be mainly mum's that will choose this.
By paying one parent to stay at home I think it would help on several levels. Those parents who want to be a homemaker can do so without fear of not being able to afford it or of being harrassed into getting an interview.
Parents would be able to take their children to and from school without using them as an unpaid babysitter
There would be nursery places available for those parents who wanted to work and less waiting time.
There would be more jobs available as those parents currently working take advantage of this more generous parental package.
I realise that my idea is probably quite controversial and won't sit well with everyone. I know that as women we have fought for years to have these rights to allow us to go back to work after having a baby and to have the same opportunities as men. I don't have a problem with that and I am far from 'mother earth' or a perfect parent.
But.......since I have stopped working I think I have realised that a lot of what we were told is not true..... we can't have it all. Maybe we can try but something loses out. Either we don't give ourselves fully to our jobs, or we miss something of our children's like concerts, open days etc. If we manage both of these we are probably beating ourselves up about our house not being perfect or not having a home cooked meal every day.
When I was working I had a job I enjoyed. I had a manager that was flexible and if I needed to take time I could. I only worked 17 hours a week and thought I was coping great. I wouldn't have said I had any stress. But I woke up 2 - 3 nights a week for around an hour or two. I always said that I didn't need a lot of sleep and that I was like my dad (he gets up regularly). Since stopping work in November I haven't got up through the night once!
I know a lot of people will probably disagree with me but I really believe that there should be a choice available. Maybe it wouldn't work - maybe we have come too far and not enough parents see staying at home with their children as a valid choice.
What do you think?
The government and their entire way of thinking of employment and unemployment both angers and scares me. I really don't think they have a clue! Of course I agree, mother's should have the right to stay at home for as long as they want to. I've got two older children and I worked from the time the youngest was at nursery up until they were in their teens. This time around (having had more children in my 40's) I would prefer to stay at home.
ReplyDeleteAs we live in different countries, I can give you one point of view regarding your: "There would be nursery places available for those parents who wanted to work and less waiting time."
ReplyDeleteHere where we live, children of parents where one doesn't work (usually mum) have priority at signing in to the nursery. They get more 'credit' points for getting into nursery. At the end, parents where both (because of the economic situation) work, have to look for a baby sitters elsewhere. Can you imagine this?
I support your ideas - if the situation would have been different, I would stay home. Unfortunatly I can not afford this... Ideas are great, unfortunatly there are always people who exploit it... if ever realised.
I'm sorry it's taken a while to reply to you both, thank you for your comments. Anne, I also have a chld born in my early 20's and my last 3 in my late 30's early 40's. Maybe thats the difference, we know who we are, where we're going and what is important. I wish there was more choice available and everyone wasn't pushed straight back to work.
ReplyDeletePetra, I find that quite strange that the children of parents where one doesn't work get a priority place at nursery - or is it that they have realised what a hard job bringing up children is? I agree with you as well in that some people will always exploit a situation. Unfortunately I think that is just life x