Maternity Leave Equivalent (Wild Speculation)

[NeonSoda]

So I was wildly speculating with a friend last night, and I said that I thought it would be wonderful if child-free people could have the same 52 week x £172 benefit given as maternity leave, but without having to have a child.

If that was something you could opt to receive, as a childfree person, what would you do with your 52 weeks of subsidised break from full-time employment?

(NB - the condition here is that you cannot do your job for those 52 weeks and also receive the money, just like a person on maternity leave can't.)

You'd get so many people taking a year off and then getting pregnant after 40 and having maternity leave too

First of all, I doubt it. If someone really wanted a child at 30 they're not going to put it off and risk their fertility just to game the system slightly. And second of all, I don't think PP meant a year off before 40 necessarily instead of mat leave. It could be as well as. If she can even remember what she meant, given it was 9 months ago...

OP was very clear that the sabbatical would be used to cover maternity leave, not in addition to maternity leave. That's why it was so poorly received.

Did I say OP? No, I said 'PP'. The post I quoted referred to a different 'what if'.

And it was only poorly received by some...

Exactly this. We are humans, with agency and reasoning capacity. Not rabbits.

What batshit insanity have I read - pregnancy isn’t a choice but “something that just happens”? 🤣 I fucking hope not. Unless you’re in a severe domestic violence situation, it’s always a choice. It’s a choice to have sex, use or not use contraception, have or not have an abortion. Having children is a lifestyle choice, it’s not comparable to being ill or having a relative die! (Mat leave is not sick/bereavement leave)