Thanking mums for juggling childcare/work during pandemic

He was asked specifically about women

Exactly, this is just more nonsense spin, really. Context matters.

He was asked specifically about women.

If he'd talked about parents the person asking might have pointed out they'd asked specifically about women- not parents.

I thought it was an odd thing to say until I saw the context.

I heard Rishi's comments as being that he thought it was the job for women to do the house/child related activities, so was equally infuriated by his comments.

He would have been better to thank all parents and then to acknowledge that he realised that this disproportionately meant women (even better if he'd then talked about how this could be addressed, but that would probably be hoping for too much).

One reason that men’s jobs often get prioritised over childcare is because men very often get paid more than women would do, just for doing their jobs.
Structural and highly damaging problem there.
Maybe Rishi and Emma could make suggestions to help sort that shit out.

Thanking mums just puts it back on to mums and lets dads who dont pull their weight off the hook.

No it doesn't. Are there really going to be many families watching where they listen to that one statement and say fuck it love, you're on your own here as rishi said I didn't have to do anything. It is the truth that in the vast majority of cases it is women who are bearing the biggest brunt of this. Especially single mothers, of which there are more than there are single fathers who have children the majority of the time. Are men that fragile that they cannot hack a small sentence recognising the burden many women have taken on?

Thanking mums just puts it back on to mums and lets dads who dont pull their weight off the hook.

It also excludes those dads of whom there are plenty stepping up.

So fair criticism I think.

All he did was pat women on the head and emphasise that he thinks that that is their place. “Thanks wimin for letting us men get on with the important jobs”.

It’s just patronising....unless he backs up his tweet with a surprise budget announcement if £500 for every mum as a thank you bonus.

I agree with @Helsbels44 but I also think EB's comment is 'What about the menz!' writ large and if it was intended otherwise it's very poorly worded from a journalist.

He should have thanked parents and acknowledged that the burden has hugely and disproportionately fallen on women.

What he did was reinforce that women are (should be) responsible for childcare.

[quote ArabellaScott]Torn, also, as I do know some (very few) men who need included. But it should also be acknowledged that this pandemic is fucking women like nothing else since the 1950s.

do you think this 'debt of thanks' could be paid by FUCKING LISTENING TO US?

No, didn't think so. We'll be patted on the head and fucking patronised some more while everyone carries on calling us fucking cervix havers, childbearers, gestational carriers and non-men.

Regardless of what Rishi said and the context, we need to talk about gender inequality, gender roles and the disproportionate impact the pandemic is having on women. So many studies out there by the likes of McKinsey and the World Economic Forum that speak to a widening gulf. For the women out there with gems of DHs, that's great they share the load and have stepped up. But your experience is not the reality for most working mums.

I think the reason Sunak's comment infuriated so many of us is that we're sick to the back teeth of "juggling". Anecdotally I see far more families where mum is the key worker and dad is WFH and the kids are in school than where it is the other way around. Why? Because even in a pandemic men with careers are not expected to look after their children!
I see women (some of them the strongest, most capable women I know) struggling with poor mental health and exhaustion, choosing furlough or turning down work because they have too much on their plates.
Enough - this has to change. We have to prepare the next generation otherwise our daughters will be left with this patriarchal, wanting society. Or they just won't want to have children because employers and society make it so difficult.

And I'm so sick of feminism being a bad word! We need it now more than ever.

To quote Marina Hyde on Twitter: "I think I speak for 'mums' everywhere when I say we all need some surrendered multitasking wife to free us up to climb the greasy pole of whatever it is we want to do with our much more important time"

With Sunak on this one. In our family, I have continued to work FT and my job, whilst mega stressful, has not been under threat.

DH has been furloughed, reduced his hours, been responsible for 3 children 5 n under 2 days a week, and been really dicked about by his employer inc implicit threats if he takes any more time off for childcare.

But I am not representative and nationwide, it is women bearing the brunt of this.

It's the split between what is happening now, and where we would ideally be.

The older I get, the more I see that you need to tackle both - strive to get where you want to be, but you mustn't ignore the reality of what is happening now, because you need to physically make the change rather than just wish it away.

I think she's coming at it from the perspective of challenging the assumption that women are, by default, the primary caregivers.

But the challenge is a bit misplaced when actually, stats clearly show that - yes, women are overwhelmingly being dumped on and expected to juggle, compromise, and sacrifice their own time, employment and personal wellbeing to take responsibility for care and education of children.

EB is not striking a blow for female empowerment by totally failing to recognise or acknowledge the day to day experience of huge numbers of women.

God forbid anyone leave men out of something.

It's a shame Angela Rayner missed the opportunity to highlight that and made a fool of herself by responding 'Erm you know Mums work too'. He did say 'juggling childcare and work' , and it was in response to Joy Morrissey MP who said:

“Many female business owners have found themselves working full-time jobs at home while bearing full-time responsibility for childcare and home schooling all at the same time. May I thank my right honourable friend for all the steps he is taking to alleviate the difficulties experienced by mothers who just want to work and contribute to the economy with their children safely back in school.”

Mr Sunak replied: “My honourable friend is absolutely right and we owe mums everywhere an enormous debt of thanks for doing the enormously difficult job of juggling childcare and work at this tricky time.

“I know she will join me in being happy that early years settings have been open for a while.

“But she’s absolutely right, the only way to sustainably solve this challenge is to safely reopen our schools as quickly as we can.”

www.theargus.co.uk/news/national/19039387.sunak-fire-thanking-mums-juggling-childcare-work/

Fathers who feel their extra work has been ignored should take it up with Sunak. Good for them. I just don't think it's up to feminists to tackle everything that's wrong with the world.

From everything the government has shown to date I'm finding it hard to give him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't just assuming that of course the mums pick up all the slack.

Either way, to me it's like the clap for carers - it's all well and good expressing the sentiment, but without real change below the surface it's meaningless, patronising and doesn't bring us closer to equality.

I'd prefer that debt of gratitude be paid with, quality free nursery provision, legal furlough for parents and as @MedusasBadHairDay LISTENING TO US!