Archaic societal norms that need to change

[Autiebibliophile]

For me it's the 6 week holidays. It worked well in a time where the majority of families were one income families. Where village communities were much more present. Grandparents typically lived close by and could help with childcare. When we had typical seasons before global warming kicked in.

I grew up in the eighties, summers were playing out all day. If my mum needed to go somewhere I went to my grandparents or a friends house. It was simple. Now it's just 6 weeks of childcare hell. Spending a fortune on childcare, expensive holidays, activities. It costs a fortune and I'm not convinced children get much out of the break anymore.

I think it needs cutting down to three weeks, And give parents two weeks they can use at their choosing (at certain time periods in the year)

What societal norms do you think are outdated?

I think either give everyone the same holidays as schools or give schools the same holidays as everyone else.

Sure.

Opiton 1 means having everyone take an equivalent pay cut (other than statutory, teachers are not paid for holidays). Option 2 means giving us more money (and seeing many of us - me included - leave. It's the only perk left of this job.)

Agreed with Sunday for all but essential services. Give people a rest and force others to do anything but shopping for one day.

On a similar note, though, extend other services past bloody 9-5pm as part of flexitime arrangements. I cannot get to my bank any time bar holidays with stupid opening hours of 9.30-2pm, nor do I get to a local post office any day apart from Saturdays by the time I get off work, and don't get me started on medical appointments of any kind.

And yes, I'd be fully in support of morning/ evening school division, too, if we could staff it.

I think the results system for GCSE and A-Levels and applying for further and higher education without knowing grades is really stupid.

I had another thought. Currency! Why do we still have so many different currencies across the world? It just makes everyone's lives harder than necessary.

But then there would be no Western Union!

I'd go further - why do we have so many countries in the world?

I am not sure how it works now, but when my ds was small I got something like £140 a month in vouchers which was paid before my income was taxed. This was when full time nursery fees were about £900 a month.

I didn't think you can now offset the whole amount against tax, which is what I meant by tax deductible - ie if you paid £12000 a year in nursery fees, you would not pay tax on that sum.

Id love to stop thank you card and holiday card nonsense. Whatsapp messages should be sufficient.

I don't know what a holiday card is but i wrote some thank you cards this week because i felt what i wanted to say was more than a WhatsApp can convey.

Holiday cards I assume you mean postcards? I don't know anyone who sends them. Or if you are American and really mean Christmas cards they are slowly dying out.

Thank-you cards for a wedding gift or something which has been sent to you seem polite to me. Rude not to, although in some situations a phone call does the job.

But how would that work for school staff? Teachers and support staff can’t just take two weeks out of term time to go on holiday with their kids. Also, think of all the schoolwork they’re missing in those two weeks off school! @Autiebibliophile

I think 4 weeks is perfect for the summer holidays, allows enough time for staff and kids to have a good break from school, go on holiday etc, but not so long that kids start missing routine, getting bored and it becomes expensive.
Add the remaining 2 weeks to other holidays, like May half term, when the weather is nice and kids can get outside, or Christmas?

The thing is that school is not actually childcare, its for the benefit of the child rather than to provide childcare for the parents, and kids do need a break. They could make the summer holiday shorter and make all half terms 2 weeks instead of 1, but as PP said this will play havoc with holiday prices.

What you actually want is more free/cheap childcare, I'm all for that too but I doubt its something the government gives a shit about.

Free or massively subsidised childcare.

Paying £20k a year or whatever is insane. Most families can't find that for private schools, why should they find it for nursery?

Expensive nursery and inaccessible childcare means women often work less than they want to and have their careers hampered.

It means families have fewer children which is why we have a low birthrate.

It hampers life chances for poorer kids and adds to the cost of living crisis.

Well funded childcare where all kids get support to learn, a safe environment, and decent food would make a huge difference to society. It should have fully qualified and well paid workers. It would set kids up to behave better in school and achieve more, help reduce teacher stress.

Parents who didn't want to use the system could still opt to do that.

A friend in Germany pays £200 a month for full time hours for a 5yo, in a place with only 20 kids.

By holiday cards I mean those sent for Christmas, Easter et
or other occasions (except birthdays)
i think UK is unique in it’s crazy card obsession with card for every occasion
im sure card printing industry is very grateful though

and thank you cards for things like Christmas presents 🙈🙈🙈 or dinner parties! Or house stays
ridiculous
(and environmentally unfriendly)

I think those are on the way out, actually. Or at least, they're less of a social norm because more people are opting out. The numbers of cards being sold are falling.

May half term is probably right before senior school exams. A bit of a crazy time for kids to have more time of school.

Scotland May has 2 long weekends, I think they'd be as well to make the summer holiday a week longer.