what if mums don't actually want to go out to work?

[beansmum]

comment here

I think I might have mentioned this before, but I love boris, he's not as stupid as he looks.

[Jimjams]

ROFL and completely agree!

[Caligula]

Love the marmalade comment. He's just the type who'd have marmalade on the breakfast table isn't he. Will now read the rest of the article!

[tarantula]

I thnk dads should have a choice too TBH. Bet lots of them dont want to go out to work either and would like to stay at home with baby.

Having said that if someone offered dp a job that paid a fair wage Id have him out the door like a shot and Id stay at home

[compo]

brilliant. I think it's great that the government makes it possible for so many of us to work but it would be nice if it was more affordable to stay at home.

[otto]

The reason I work has nothing to do with wages being taxed, it's to do with the fact that it costs lots of money to buy a house and we need my salary to a) get a mortgage and b) pay the mortgage.

[Marina]

I agree with a lot of what he says in principle. I certainly would not be working outside the home if we could afford our mortgage just on dh's salary...property prices, and the cult of owning your own home, as propagated by all political parties but especially the Tories in the 1980s, have a critical impact on who can choose to stay home and who can't, alas.

[expatinscotland]

Well where the hell is Jools when the moment has arrived? This is the first time she'll see this coming from me: I agree with Boris Johnson, who is a Conservative, on this .

[MarsLady]

Well said Boris!

[expatinscotland]

And we don't have a mortgage. Couldn't afford one w/o either a vast inheritance or a Lotto jackpot.

[beansmum]

as much as I love boris and his floppy hair it is a bit worrying that a sensible idea has to come from a tory

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[bundle]

if i had pots of money i'd still use daycare for my kids (and me!). i'm sure boris wasn't thinking of his kids' welfare when he was off s**ing

[crunchie]

The thing is he is not saying anything that hasn't been voiced a thousand times by thousands of women - even when we get the SAHM v WM slanging matches (sorry debates) the issue comes up that certainly SOME if not a MAJORITY of women who work full time out of the home would LIKE to be able to stay at home (part time at least). But that they HAVE to contribute to the household expense.

personally I don't think this is becasue we are all being taxed too much and therefore we need to work to make up the numbers. Obviously if the Tory Party came to power they would make sure there was a sudden influx of cash so we wouldn't HAVE to work (like hell they would!!) I think women are going out to work to improve or maintain a lifestyle that we want. More of us COULD survive on less, but don't want to. The 2nd income is not just to pay the mortgage (thanks to the Tory government we all have HUGE ones) it is also because as a nation we have become incredibly materialistic.

Personally we could survive on one salary - it happens to be mine - but if dh earnt what I do I wouldn't work. But the goverment diverting funds into ensuring people could stay at home, rather than work is a tricky one. Good quality state funded childcare has totally changed peoples lives. Women can be independant and support their families without reliance on a man (which is becoming more common). and it does offer an opportunity to escape from the benefit game in some instances. For me it has be great for my children as they have positively enjoyed school from teh first minute. I am not a brilliant mum in some ways and would never offer the variety of experiences they get from school.

[crunchie]

BTW of course it is a sensible idea encouraging women who want to stay at home - strange though the election was a month or so ago, if it was SUCH a novel idea, or indeed workable in any way shape or form, do you not think it would have been suggested then??

NO - becasue there is no way on earth that a situation like this woudld be workable, particularly under Tory rule. Last tim ethey had the country they sold off most of teh housing stock, forcing everyone to pay mortgages and creating a culture of homeowners who are then forced to have two wages to pay for a roof over their heads. Prior to this in teh 70's one wage was enough to pay the rent, huge expenses like renovations/new kitchens etc were not around, so parents could stay at home. Now since there are hardly any council houses and people have to rent or buy privately two wages become necessary. State funded childcare helps those who don't have doting grandparents on teh doorstep willing to help and it helps us parents find somewhere that has been checked and is safe/clean/wellrun etc. What is teh problem with that?

[expatinscotland]

And still millions of us actually cannot survive on less - it's not a question of not wanting to.

Or of mortgages.

[morningpaper]

It's no news that the Tories want to scrap this sort of state-funded childcare (for the over 3's). Then you'll have lots of mothers on benefit (which again will be drastically cut) and the number of children living in poverty will once again start to rise - this always happens under Tory rule. But it saves money so the rich middle classes can have tax breaks - hurray!

(However, every mother I know that uses it is bloody grateful for the break, whether to go to work or to look after other children.

Do people REALLY send their children to pre-school because they 'feel they should' ? I'm not sending my 3 year-old to pre-school and I don't have the tiniest qualm about it - does anyone?)

[Twiglett]

Bravo Boris

[Twiglett]

I sent my 3 year old to pre-school because he benefitted from it socially and was ready for it, and so did and was I (heavily pregnant at the time)

[JoolsToo]

Ahh! Boris - what a man - am in complete agreement.


"The only question I ask - and believe me, I ask it nervously; I ask it in the surefire knowledge that if I get the tone or balance wrong, I may be beaned with the marmalade when this article is read over breakfast tomorrow"

does this sound like mumsnet or wot?!

[TwoIfBySea]

Good old Boris, even if he is a Tory, that is only slightly worse than being a Blairite!

He is quite right about the tax thing as well. It is shocking how much DH gets taxed on his little wage even though some of it is returned with the tax credits. We can survive on his wage only because we haven't a mortgage, but renting does mean you can get stuck where you are.

I'd still send dst to their nursery though, they love it there and have flourished since going. The afternoon is enough though, at their age.

[moondog]

I read this (as I read the 'Telegraph' every day.)Thought it was a good point but once again,the eminently sensible offering of 'wraparound care' becomes an excuse to slag off Labour again.
Check out the letters page.
Damned if you do,damned if you don't...

[Nightynight]

Boris Johnson belongs to the land-owning class that has benefitted hugely from the ludicrous increase in property prices. Most of us have to go out to work to pay our enormous mortgages on the minute, pathetic percentage of Britain that we can "own".

So it doesn't really impress me much to hear Boris sympathising with me for having to go out to work (which I don't particularly want to do).

By the way, Boris/fan club, if you read this - I am ISABELLA, but this website is rather more friendly to uncomfortable truths.

[moondog]

Well of course nn. Any excuse to slag off labour as I said.

[aloadoffishyballs]

hooray fro boris

I do the best job of looking afetr my kids not some 17 ear old