Yesterday at work, the subject of maternity leave came up in conversation. I mentioned the recent legislation that allows fathers to take up to 26 weeks of the mothers maternity leave (assuming certain conditions are met).
One of my (female) colleagues was quite shocked to learn about this. She said that she didn't see how it could work, that men wouldn't want to do it, and it would be terrible for small businesses if they had to worry about men started taking 6 months paternity leave whenever they liked, and how they might stop employing men who looked like they might become fathers. I pointed out that this isn't exactly a new problem for small businesses, because women already have the right to a years materity leave.
My colleage then said that maternity leave for women only was okay, because small businesses could just choose not to employ women of childbearing age When I said that this would be illegal, she was very emphatic about this being absolutely morally okay for businesses to do, and said that it shouldn't be illegal anyway.
I was quite shocked to hear these views from my colleague - especially as this female colleague is a single mother in her early 30's with two young daughters, and is therefore suggesting it's okay for employers to reject her (and her daughters when they're older) on grounds of her age and gender.
There's not really much point to this story, but it was very depressing to hear a woman attack maternity rights, and to be so opposed to the notion of allowing fathers to take extra paternity leave if the mother wants to return to work before a full year.
I know it's not for everyone, but personally I see it as a positive step that gives families more options and challenges the viewpoint that childcare should be primarily the mothers responsibility. Is my opinion on this really so unusual?
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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
Sharing maternity leave with fathers
38 replies
LonelyCloud · 09/10/2012 15:14
OP posts:
kim147 ·
09/10/2012 18:40
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