To think that women without children should be able to take time off work too?

[Playfair]

Firstly I will say that I am 100% supportive of good maternity leave (and paternity / shared), and understand the importance of supporting women to maintain a career, care for children or whatever else they wish.

I also acknowledge that maintaining birth rates is critical for society. And that maternity leave is spent doing work in raising a child.

Reflecting on my company's good maternity policy (about 6 months paid) and also some other institutions that have announced paid time off for those undergoing fertility treatment, it leaves me wondering about those of us without children (by choice or otherwise).

I'm in my thirties and will never have children. I'd love to have a small amount of paid time off (in addition to usual annual leave) to do some lengthy travel for example. I can't see why we can't have access to something similar if you haven't used any maternity benefit by a certain point.

There would obviously be benefits for society & business from developing new skills, morale etc. As well as women in work contributing to economy and through taxation.

So,

YABU - Women who choose not to have children shouldn't be entitled to anything else

YANBU - Women should be able to claim a small amount of extra paid time off if they stay in a career and contribute to business and societies success

How about you get the time off but to keep it fair an alarm goes of every 3 hours for you to leave whatever you're doing straight away for half an hour, be it showering, eating your dinner or sleeping.

Maybe just after starting your leave you can also get someone to give you a good hard kick in the vagina, which then takes at least two weeks to stop throbbing. And count yourself lucky to not be having the mother of all periods at the same time or worry about itchy stitches or wonder how the fuck you’re ever going to manage to push out that first post birth poo... But you’ll want to wear the extra thick sanitary towels for padding anyway so you can actually sit down anywhere so don’t forget to pop them in your back back (3 times the amount of packs you thought you’d need is always a good estimate) before you go and enjoy your travels.
This is all based on my personal experience - and I know I had it easy compared to most!
Holiday my arse…

Agree.

Society really punishes women who don't reproduce.

They're the ones who pay into children's childcare subsidies, children's schooling, children's healthcare etc via taxes but reap no benefit. (Yes parents pay taxes too but they also take from the system for their child/ren.)

And then on top of that mothers get minimum of 9 months extra holiday. Ok so it's given a special name of 'maternity leave' but that's what it is, paid time off work to do whatever they want. Then people complain that maternity leave is tiring but they made that lifestyle choice to have the kid/s.

But it won't be a popular view on a place full of mothers because obviously the status quo only benefits them.

As someone said previously, no one has a child to please the government.

For everyone woman like you there is one like me who had a ‘holiday’ for 12 months.

And I say that even after having a section! Recovery easy, baby easy, travelled a lot and lots of me time due to DH having 6 months enhanced paternity leave.

Populating a massively over populated planet. You've made a life choice. Don't pretend you're doing an altruistic thing in populating the planet.

This

I don’t think anyone has suggested that maternity leave is a holiday or a jolly. But what it is is time out of the workplace with no questions asked and no justification needed. It’s a chance to try a different lifestyle and get a new perspective.

Well OP have you asked your company if you can have paid time off from work? We've already established that some companies e.g. John Lewis do so why not yours? If yours doesn't what's stopping you from working for a company that does offer a paid sabbatical?

And FML, for what is promoted primarily as a parenting forum, why is there so much animosity from certain posters towards women who have had children.

Did you somehow manage to miss MeganCrossing's numerous posts?

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I’m sorry OP but you can’t really be that thick…..so please float this with your employer, and report back, we could all do with a good laugh.

Ok for some people it is. But I don’t think I can win here. You would be offended if I suggested it was a holiday and you’d be offended if I suggested it was a miserable relentless slog with no upsides whatsoever.

By the same token then people should be given prolonged sick leave for elective cosmetic surgery. Because it's a choice and often requires a long recovery. Like childbirth.

Wow. What a depressing comment.

If you can't see why that isn't the same then there's no hope for you and the assault on women's rights has permeated further than I thought given you feel it's even remotely acceptable to say something so absurd.

And no one who has no children has suggested it’s a holiday. Only posters who have had them.

@KimberleyClark again the stupidity. 6 months no justification, the helpless tiny poop and cry machine that can’t do anything for itself for at 2-3 years (let alone 6 months) is kind of the justification.

Mummyongin
This is starting to sound like discrimination. To suggest that people should have a right to paid time off - except if they’ve taken maternity leave?!

Don't be ridiculous. If anything the current situation is discriminatory.

Okaaaaayyyyy. Crazy person alert.

I meant that you don’t have to justify it to your employer. Clear now?

Err, no. But they do choose NOT have children if there aren't supportive policies in place. Not all births but enough to skew demographics. It is statistics 🤷‍♀️

Work for nandos. 4 week sabbatical for every five years of employment

most definitely not a holiday. Spent recovering from major surgery after almost dying, whilst looking after a newborn. You know, a little human who depended on me for everything and shat himself at least once a day, on a good day.

Frankly MN would delete my post for breaching their guidelines If I said what I actually think about this “oh but I want holidays and to travel and to be paid for it”. So do I. Use your annual leave.

@KimberleyClark no, the fact you are having the baby is the justification why would you need to justify it. Look if your that desperate for mat leave many find it terrifically easy to get them eligible for it…crack on 😂!

Absolutely. This post should be pinned at the top of the thread somehow.

I couldn’t have children.

But it all balances out surely, as parents have to use their holiday for the next, at least 12/13 years, to look after their children when they are ill or have doctors' appointments or more if their child isn't healthy or capable of looking after themselves past an age when you'd expect a child to. So if you don't have a child you can use your holidays to do whatever you want and have fun whereas when you are pregnant and give birth then look after that child during maternity leave it's not fun for a lot of the time and then use your holidays for every time that child is ill, needs to say home from school, school holidays, and so forth.

@Playfair suggest it to your employer. As you said, it’s employer specific.
let us know after if you still have a job.

DFG. How are people.still this thick? And sexist.

also why have more than 1 baby if maternity leave is so awful?

Ummmm... because they have lots of different reasons for wanting children, none of which are about getting maternity leave? I've never met someone who made the lifelong (and expensive!!) commitment to have a child because the idea of maternity leave was irresistible. Have you?