To ask your views :- Is being a mum a job.

[ICanSeeTheSun]

I can not decide if being a mum is a job.

I do see this a lot on Facebook, under employment is full time mummy.

Aibu to think if a mum is a job I want my employment rights, such as 21 day holiday.

ps, you don't have to fill in every blank on FB!!

My opinion is that it can be hard work at times but it's not a job.

It's not a job but it is bloody hard work!!

It wasn't a choice for me. I was financially cornered in to sah.

The question wasnt asking if SAHM is a job. I'm assuming you made the choice to be a mum?

This isn't nothing to do with if someone is a wohm or sahm

Surely you are either employed, self-employed or unemployed.

So no.

greeneggsandjam , I think agency carers are well paid, but in my LA I get a standard allowance for a child's needs ( nappies, clothes, food etc) , which is set by Govt/Fostering network, and my payment is £28 a week for an under 5, increasing a little for older ages, so actually nowhere near £1 an hour !

No. And this isn't an aibu either. Categorisation clearly not your thing.

Not a job

No.

Contact your union :o
£28 a week for fostering

£28 a week! That's appalling! Are you entitled to child tax credits and child benefit aswell. Surely you'd need to be.

Really? £28 a week? My mum is a fc for the la and she gets a lot more than that!

£28 a week to look after a foster child is shocking.

School meals alone come to £10.

I think of being a full-time mum as an occupation, not a job
Speaking as someone whose mat leave is ending and is returning to work full time

Not really. It is certainly not "employment". The word "job" can have a loose definition as someone pointed out upthread, but it isn't really a job in the most commonly used sense.

My parents foster for our LA and something isn't right if you only get £28 per week. That's only marginally more than child benefit!

It's not employment as you pay for the privilege. Financially, physically, enotionally...

No.

No. You lucky to have children. It's a perk of life.

Hello greeneggsandjam. Foster carer here so can give you a breakdown of that one. We are paid £300 per week for a child. Out of this we have to pay mandatory amounts - £15 per week pocket money, £10 per week savings, £10 per week clothing allowance. On top of that £300 per year set aside for celebrations. Petrol for contact with child's families, which can be a very long way from home, on top of driving too and from school, social services meetings etc, so a lot of hours in the car each week. Not allowed any respite, so child is with us 24/7, and we have to pay for holidays, school trips, hobbies, phone bills etc. take into account that many children have very disruptive and disturbing behaviour (I've had deliberate flooding, smashing up hundreds of pounds worth of stuff) and also had children who are up most of the night on the rampage so need more or less 24 hour waking cover to keep the household safe. Not a great amount of 'pay' when you take all this into account.

It isn't a decision for you to make. Job is a word. Defined as 'work you do to earn money'. Ergo, no it's not a job. (Except foster care!)

Would it class as an occupation, rather than a job? Like most forms these days ask for 'Occupation', which is where I put full-time student. Being a student and a mum isn't a job, but it occupies my time

It's work, and hard work at that, but no, not a job.

You can't quit.
You don't get appraisal.
You don't get to leave your kids for better ones.
You don't become a better mother by seniority.
The amount of kids you have doesn't indicate how good you are at being a mother.
...I could go on.

I am a sahm of a toddler with one on the way.

I don't think it's a job. It definitely doesn't feel like one. I dunno. Please don't hate me. Awkward turtle.