"Me-Ternity Leave" has anyone seen this?

[GiraffeObsessedBaby]

Just come across this, I didn't see the show but will be having a look after my DSs bath time.

Is this for real? Am I alone in thinking what the actual fuckity fuck?!

https://m.facebook.com/loosewomen/photos/a.166231134878/10157440690599879/?type=3&source=57&tnn=EH-R

But no-one is entitled to a year of doing nothing at someone elses expense

Erm, but that is exactly what maternity leave is... well not the 'nothing' bit, but a year of doing what you chose to at someone elses expense...

I think it's totally sensible, and will help the economy hugely. After all, imagine how many people will have to be employed full time to make sure the people who take 'me-ternity' are regularly woken at 11, 11.30, 1am, 1.15am, 3am, 5am, and for a lengthy period from 6 to 8am? Who will prepare the curdled milk vomit to cascade over them? Who will mix the turmeric-colour liquid shite and ensure it dribbles all over nearby soft furnishings? And who will patiently sit with a small razor blade, running it pensively over said person's nipples, until she starts crying?

make, did you ever use a road, or a public library before you paid taxes? Do you use the NHS? Were your parents paid child benefit?

If so, you've been doing what you chose at someone else's expense.

Society as a whole needs women to have babies. So either we have systems that support working women to have babies and keep their jobs and not go completely broke, or we don't.
Maternity leave isn't just 'doing what you chose at someone else's expense'

Slightly playing devil's advocate here but when I was on maternity leave I seemed to be the only one in my postnatal group that had a "difficult" baby. The other women all spent a large part of their maternity leaves having leisurely lunches, going shopping - oh and they all had doting extended families that took the baby pretty much any time they wanted.

I remember one woman one time saying what a lovely break maternity leave had been and the others agreeing (as I generally struggled to even leave the house, had a baby that didn't nap and no helpful family on hand, needless to say, I disagreed!). So while acknowledging that maternity leave is generally pretty hard work and not a holiday, but for women it is a nice relaxing time.

Missing the point that parental leave isn’t for the parent it’s to look after a child.

I have to say I think it’s one of those Jeremy vine esque articles that poses a clearly ludicrous non question.

“Should you always let your children have or do whatever they want, or should you flog them every day with a strip of birch?”

etc

RedSkyLastNight I can promise a lot of those women were omitting lots of info

NotANotMan

I think you've missed my point. Of course I know maternity leave isn't a rest and I know it's an investment by mothers of their time for the future benefit of the human race, which is also why I don't begrudge a penny of my taxes being spent on education and children's services etc even though I don't have children. I can see the bigger picture.

But, even without children, from a purely selfish point of view, I would have liked the "mental" freedom of some time out at some point without the risk of not having a job to come back to. I can see how this proposition has come about.

DontCallMeCharlotte you do realise a lot of women have to change jobs, or work part time. Do you realise how their career suffers.

If you want it to be equal, how do you propose to even that,?

If becoming a parent/mother is made very difficult, birthrates will fall. Maintaining replacement rates is quite important at a species level. But society needs the cleverest/ best educated to reproduce at a more rapid rate.

Its a renamed 'sabbatical' - and nowt wrong with taking a sabbatical

Should not be confused with looking after a small baby though, as that is hard work and you barely have time to wipe your own arse

I think what they are proposing should be called MyTurnity Leave. That would at least make sense as a pun.

As you were...

If society doesn't at least attempt to minimise the disruption to a woman's life that having children causes then women won't have children. You can see that in South Korea where women are choosing not to marry and/or have children, the fertility rate has just dropped below 1, meaning they are having fewer than half the number of children that they need to keep the population the same size.

As much a people feel that they deserve to have a break from work for a year here and there, there's no economic consequence for society if they don't so there's no reason for it to be legislated for.

Notacluewhatthisis

Of course I realise taking time out to raise a family jeopardises careers, which is so wrong, and I wouldn't expect preferential treatment if I buggered off for six months. Perhaps if men had the option - and took it - as well, that might make it more equal? I don't know.

The subject only came up tonight - I don't have a fully formed plan

(I would reiterate I wouldn't expect it to be paid.)

What a load of bullshit! Way to undermine women again...

Maternity or shared parental leave is not a break, it's fucking hard work. And annual leave after it is not the 'me time' that it is for Childless people.

@DontCallMeCharlotte I haven't had a break for 3 years and won't get one for another 35/40 if I'm lucky enough to retire (and I've already worked ft for 12). I really do feel for your situation (I have one dc who was a miracle on account of my own fertility issues) but it's not a break. I honestly have never been more broken, tired and emotionally drained than mat leave... well, until I had to work ft with a 9 month old who didn't sleep for another 18 months.

all this is doing is undermining an already marginalised and discriminated against set of women who aren't given jobs or promotions because they have or might have children. Does that mean a childless person could take this bs 'me-ternity' then get knocked up and have maternity leave? And then what? Everyone who's had maternity then get 'me-ternity' because then that's not fair? Or do we just all stop working now?

I'm obviously not expressing myself very well.

I am absolutely not minimising the value or hard work of maternity leave and I genuinely don't know where people are getting that from.

(I liked thedoctorwillseeyounow's re-naming to "My-Turnity" )

This is just me being idealistic.

Don't worry charlotte, your comments have just been eclipsed by the hilariously ignorant post by @makeahouseahome

Chrysalis7

Phew! I can stand down then

I do not know how things are in the UK, but in Canada we are given one year of maternity leave. It is a legal requirement that all businesses offer employees one year maternity leave and it's covered by employment insurance (not sure exactly how it works as I have never taken a mat leave myself).

Part of that leave is sick leave which is for the mother only. (This is termed "sick" leave but it's not taken out of your regular sick days; it's for the mother to give birth and recover from the birth process.) The other part, I believe, can be shared between the parents according to what works best for their situation.

@Charlotte

Difference is, you are not meaning any malice, and are just putting your views across.

But several posters here especially @makeahouseahome are just damn rude and insulting and very VERY ignorant.

@agnurse while you are eligible to a year of work, depending on your employer and type of employment not all of it may be paid in the UK.

Also the payment can be as low as £30 a week for 39 weeks.

Added to that the 52 weeks can be shared with your partner.

In regards to sabbaticals I know women who have taken them with their employers while others like me have taken time of between employment. Sabbaticals - even if it is just travelling to English speaking countries - aren't a detriment to your career as they don't limit your working hours when you are back at work. Caring for children or other relations is.

What if someone has 4 maternity leaves vs 2 for example. Do I get 2 meternity leaves. Because fuck me maternity leave did not give me 5 minutes to myself so maybe I can claw it back to travel and learn a language and have long lunches. This is just a ridiculous idea and minimises how hard keeping a small human alive on no sleep can be.

I have never been run over by a car. So I didn't get to have the 5 weeks off work my "lucky" ex-colleague got - sitting at home on the sofa, watching day time tv, being able to catch up on reading interesting books, while being paid. So unfair. And he didn't even learn a new language in that time - wasteful of the time off!

Most big companies already have arrangements in place if a staff member wants to take a sabatical. Some allow unpaid career breaks of 2-3 years, with a promise of going back into the same pay and job level you left on.

Its really normal for people that have been employed for a while, who want to take a break to write a book, go travelling, go back to study etc to not have resign to have the time off now.

"Should employers be forced to allow anyone who's worked for more than 5 years to be able to take a sabatical?" would be a better framing of the question, but then it's not piting on set of woman against another....

Thinking about this - many people I worked with when I had DC1 were surprised how little maternity pay was, or that if you wanted to take the full 12 months, the last 4 months were completely unpaid. Many people do still think you get a full year off paid, and paid at your normal salary rate.

I wouldn't be surprised at all that this idea has come from a child-free person who does vaguely think maternity pay is pretty much the same as your normal wage and you get it the whole time. (I believe the first 6 weeks at 90% is just because that's the 'sick leave' stage, you are recovering, although many woman still aren't fit to work at the 6 week check)

I do think Sabbaticals should be encouraged more which is really what this is about and the reason a lot of people don’t take them is they are a luxury and people worry about using their safety net

One of the things I struggled with when we were going through fertility treatment was The this is it feeling work work work yep lovely holidays but actually they have to be squeezed into 5 weeks I took a sabbatical in 2000 for 4 months and it certainly reinvigorated me and it was nice to not be a grown up for a bit!

Because of that I did treat my maternity leave like a long holiday and did try not to get bogged down in chores but concentrated on having fun with my v hard work baby! Whilst I didn’t jet off we went to parks, we went to anything free and enjoyed life! But it was because I knew that was the last extended break from work I am getting until I retire!