School closures: Thousands of women have just had their double shift doubled

Yes, thanks Femin1st - I'll happily sign the petition.

@Femin1st Thank you for starting the petition. I occasionally dream about standing for parliament but I'm too scared to actually do it!

The problem as I see it though that even when employers do have genuine flexible working policies it tends to be women who take advantage of them rather than men, furthering the gap between women's presence and men's and reinforcing the idea that women are lesser employees

Absolutely, but raising the profile of arrangements for both men and women has to be a starting point. At least if business is supporting this, it gives families a conversation to be had.

I know in school we always have a conversation about 'yes you can access parental unpaid leave, which days are you covering, which is your partner?' It has to be expected.

Also totally agree with turning support upside down. My own exH had an allowance for one child that wasn't his which was greater than the amount the CS expected for his own two children, yet the other child had two full time working parents of his own. Mine were left with the scraps he gave and my part time wage as I tried to manage a house, family and job. Anyway I digress!

@CaraDuneRedux thank you, I did not know that rule! I will post in the relevant thread as soon as it is live, although the parliament website warns there could be a delay of several weeks due to there being so many petitions right now

I would suppport a use it or lose it Scandi style parental leave system.
The whole child support thing really needs turning on it's head as well.
Currently, if a man fathers a couple of children, and then leaves and shacks up with another woman who has children and/or fathers a few more, he stops being responsible for the first children (or, at least most men do based on the amount the law is allowed to take from them.)
I personally know a few women whose children's fathers live with another woman's children, and he is then responsible for the new children (whose father does actually pay child support) but not for his biological kids. Every human being should be legally financially responsible for the small humans they create, no matter what they choose to then go on and do. Men just get away with absolving themselves of all responsibility. The number of men paying nothing at all for their children's upkeep is shocking.(I say men because in almost all cases the children stay with the mother.)

Remember (rules of MN) to put the actual link in a thread on the petitions section, then put a link to that thread on here. If you link directly to the petition from here you could get deleted on a technicality.

[quote ByersRd]@Femin1st

Re the petition, does there need to be something in the guidance to business to include the expectation of considering flexible working...similar to the guidance used to request part time working (acas). This would give all employees (male and female) a right to make a formal request.
Also businesses to make furlough for either male or female employees for childcare reasons, high profile. Many businesses are not allowing this.

This would begin to balance the impact on women and the expectation on schools, both the backstop to adapting to COVID. [/quote]
The problem as I see it though that even when employers do have genuine flexible working policies it tends to be women who take advantage of them rather than men, furthering the gap between women's presence and men's and reinforcing the idea that women are lesser employees.

Most 'women friendly' policies such as longer maternity leave, increased maternity rights generally, flexible working, parental leave etc have actually caused women to fall further behind in the workplace and be more likely to be discriminated against.

Women's rights in the workplace harms women just as much as it protects them.

At least in the past when women were essentially forced out of the workplace and off the career ladder after having children it was overt, acknowledged and their role as the homemaker still held some value in society. We weren't expected to both compete with the men at work and still keep a perfect house and 2.4 children alive.

Now we are expected to be all things and it's exhausting.

ah thanks @ByersRd. I've actually just finished doing it - just need the 5 signatures now. There are various irritating character limits so I had to cut quite a bit out. On the employer stuff, I went for the idea of requiring publication of a sex impact assessment as that kind of implies the other stuff too (if an employer is rubbish at allowing flex working, it's going to see a fall in its sex equality). I'm also very conscious that for many people "flexible" working just means giving mothers permission to work 9pm til 2am, which doesnt really solve the problem here! I will post the link as soon as it's live.

@Femin1st

Re the petition, does there need to be something in the guidance to business to include the expectation of considering flexible working...similar to the guidance used to request part time working (acas). This would give all employees (male and female) a right to make a formal request.
Also businesses to make furlough for either male or female employees for childcare reasons, high profile. Many businesses are not allowing this.

This would begin to balance the impact on women and the expectation on schools, both the backstop to adapting to COVID.

There are many mothers who are absolutely stifled WITHIN a relationship during this pandemic, and any slush fund (running away fund) they had saved for dark days (and these are the darkest of days) has been obliterated due to living off savings.

I’m not referring just to single mothers though @Grellbunt

I just did a quick google on shared parental leave and it's still at a woeful uptake level - something like 4% for last year. Shocking.

I am usually wary of citing Scandi models as the solution for everything, but their 'use it or lose it' quota model for parental leave seems to really work. If dads aren't involved from the very early days, the gaps start to become too big to overcome.

It's really about applying a sex-lens to everything - Engender have done some great work on this in Scotland but I don't know how it's actually landed with Scot Gov.

Some on here will dismiss Engender because of their view on trans rights, but I think recently I've started to be concerned that the focus on trans issues, important though it is, has meant we're taking our eye off the ball in other ways.

website here

It’s worrying how many mothers are resorting to only fans and sex work to keep the roof over their head 🙁 in fact it’s truly disturbing. But what’s the alternative? There isn’t one.

I spent thousands training in semi- permanent cosmetic tattooing and qualified just before the lockdowns started with a license paid for, room rented with a contract signed, insurance paid for and my first few clients booked in. I was very excited and relieved to take control of my life and start earning some good money.

Then came COVID-19. Everything got cancelled. The insurance, license, rent etc non refundable.

Now, after months, I'm so out of practise that I won't be able to work on clients until I've taken another course...or two. I've had to go onto UC which just barely covers food and bills.

Leaving my previous job and training in SPMU was a very sound plan for me. I had saved, planned and waited. Covid came it and ruined it.

4,578 hairdressers and salons have closed for good since the start of the pandemic.

I've even briefly entertained the idea of making an Only-Fans account but I'm too fat and don't have a social media following. These are shit times.

I must investigate local political parties’ meetings - previously I couldn’t attend as evening meets - but now perhaps with zoom... as long as not at bedtime.

For people assuming that it’s easy to split in, lots of my female friends’ DP/DH are much more likely to do jobs where wfh is impossible - building etc. So even more likely to fall on the woman. It’s so shit.

I’m sure lots of working mums are just too busy to give it headspace ... but this kind of thing shows that we need to.

Women WITH CHILDREN need to be involved in policy making.

I commented recently on another thread about how the chat at mum groups and at the school gate is all studiously avoidant of “politics”. I think we need to be careful about this. Lots of women are self excluding from politics / policy by their attitudes... the looks one gets introducing anything beyond the everyday as a topic of conversation at baby groups or in “mum” circles....what is the answer? Is politics now just a niche interest?

I've said all along that policies are being made by people who have never had to worry about childcare.

Making it hugely difficult - private nurseries shut, ridiculously hard to get childcare

women should be involved in policy decision making around Covid19

It’s almost as though our COVID policy and decision making team are all male, which would be ludicrous!

Oh.... hang on