Comments on: Paid Maternity Leave

By: lightening

lightening — Sat, 16 May 2009 04:36:42 +0000

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has taken time to respond so far. I’ve deliberately not responded to comments as I don’t want anyone to feel I don’t respect their opinion. We all come at issues like this from different angles and it’s always helpful to read various perspectives on the same issue.

Thanks again and feel free to add to this discussion.

By: Ali

Ali — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:18:48 +0000

While i like the idea in principal , the way it will actually work worries me.
For years , i have been working in a male dominated field , and while i don’t want to sounds like a leftie , i am already discrimintated against. i worry that with paid maternity it will increase the discrimination already experinced.
I suppose my other issue is that all women should have the same access to services/payments ect, there should be no difference between the payments between SAHM and WM.
(Then again, i also don’t agree with middle class welfare)

By: Naomi

Naomi — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:46:21 +0000

I think it makes perfect sense. Welfare pays people a living allowance while they’re looking for work. It pays them a (smaller) living allowance while they’re studying with the purpose of becoming more employable. It pays people who are too sick to work. And now it pays a new mother while she’s recovering from childbirth and unlikely to be in a fit state to work.

I don’t get how this payment ‘forces’ women back into the workforce. Generally, people work paid jobs because they need the money. Very few do it for the love of their work. If you need the money, you go back to work. If you don’t, you don’t. These payments help new mothers wait a sensible amount of time before going back to work.

Economics doesn’t always make sense without the background data. Sometimes spending money is the best investment a government can make in order to get their economy in good shape. See, I could whine about the ridiculous amount of money spent on roads in capital cities in Australia, when from my point of view it would make a lot more sense to invest in public transport infrastructure. After all, if you choose to have a car, you have to deal with the consequences, and not expect the government to improve roads for you… ya?

By: Karen (Miscellaneous Mum)

Karen (Miscellaneous Mum) — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:25:23 +0000

I am for it. Wendy’s comments sum up my feelings pretty well.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:59:05 +0000

I’m against it.

Small to medium businesses can’t afford it. They are already struggling at the moment, this kind of thing isn’t going to help.

Like you said. Motherhood comes with many sacrifices. If you aren’t ready to make the sacrifices, then perhaps you aren’t ready for motherhood.

By: Mistress B

Mistress B — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:32:34 +0000

it’s such a difficult issue. Like you I’m for stay at home mum’s having the choice to do so and I really don’t believe that they can come up with a solution that is going to ‘fit all’

some one, some special interest group is always going to be disatisfied with any system that gets put in place.

By: Paid Maternity Leave | Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

Paid Maternity Leave | Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:32:53 +0000

[...] on Lightening’s blog yesterday she posted why she’s against paid maternity [...]

By: Kendall

Kendall — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:07:15 +0000

Totally agree with you Lightening!

By: river

river — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:58:30 +0000

I’m not getting into this one. There are too many issues which need to be sorted. I’m even more of an ostrich than you are.

By: kelli

kelli — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:56:44 +0000

Try living in Canberra, where you go to a new mothers group & discover that out of 20 women you are one of 2 not getting paid maternity leave…and the ACT govt has just increased their employees paid mat leave to 18 weeks. We can not afford this!

The Australian public has for years paid maternity leave for public servants. This was originally part of a package to compensate them for baing paid a smaller wage. This is no longer true - the Commonwealth publilc service has driven up private sector wages to unsustainable levels here. I interviewed a girl in her 2nd year at uni earning $60,000 in a public sector job - she was doing data entry!!

So, on one hand I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing as it evens the playing field a bit. However, I would have thought that the economy can’t afford it. I would prefer to see other services provided properly - disability services, health, education etc. Oh, and our aged pensioners being able to live above the poverty level. The means test currently being sprouted in the rumour mill also seems much to generous, $150,0000 for the person taking the leave.

Anyway, if you can’t afford to have children without relying on the government to support you, then you shouldn’t have them. It is a choice.

I will be watching the budget with a lot of interest as the impacts on what I do everyday could be massive. We have spent the last week trying to protect our clients from the potentials being leaked by the government.