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.)

Can we recoup the costs, then, from those whose offspring turn out to be criminals, addicts, abusers, bad parents, unemployable and otherwise drains and burdens on society?

Noooo, this is fantasy land, right? No conditions of that sort. That also means that parents can use the allocation for something selfish this time around.

I’ve had 2 maternity leaves, full pay for 12 months, but as it’s fantasy, I’ll have another paid time off. I’d spend it travelling, then win the lottery so I didn’t have to go back..it’s fantasy afterall right. 🤣

I've often thought there should be a scheme like this, although admin of it might be challenging. Frankly, I would just enjoy the freedom! When I'm on annual leave for a couple of weeks, there's a constantly ticking clock ('only nine days of holiday left' etc.) and I'd just like some time when that clock was switched off.

Child free people seem to able to retire earlier, as they havnt had to fund education costs and house deposit costs.

So they do get their year off, but at an older age.

Well thi went well again

Hilarious. I had a pension statement yesterday and it looks like my official retirement has been pushed back to 75 going by the state of my pension pot. I'd love to know how you think CF people get houses if not by deposits and mortgages, are there some freebies I missed out on when I bought my flat?

Wait what? We don’t have to pay a house deposit if we don’t have kids? Why didn’t anyone tell me - I had to save mine over 13 years!

It’s also not possible to retire earlier if you’re still paying your rent/mortgage in your sixties. I don’t know if you know this but non-parents have to pay housing costs too!

I honestly don’t know why we bother.

Wait what? We don’t have to pay a house deposit if we don’t have kids? Why didn’t anyone tell me - I had to save mine over 13 years!

According to the media we're immune from the COL crisis as well, as only 'families' are going to feel the pinch with increased council tax and the like.

I honestly don’t know why we bother

Gets old, doesn't it?

I’ve already answered but just realised this is in a child free section of mumsnet, didn’t know mumsnet had one...sorry!

Regardless though, not sure why anyone is bothered by this...it’s basically, if you could have some subsidised time off work, how would you spend it?

I think the mistake was to reply to firat queationing it in realities. We should have just keep dreaming and ignoring possible actual implementation discussions😂

The only people retiring early in my generation and below are those who’ll inherit their parents’ wealth. Parental status will be irrelevant.

The only people I know who have retired early are those who benefitted from excellent occ pensions and the housing market. Again, parental status irrelevant but anecdotally they’re all parents!

I don’t know any child free people who will retire early. On a personal basis my mortgage goes past my retirement age so I will be working until substantially past retirement age to pay my mortgage and then try and save enough money to pay for my retirement.

Child free people are also often single, which means no combined earnings Roth a partner and that means further financial hardship.

My parents also didn’t pay for my house deposit or my undergrad, masters, or PhD. They also are working past retirement age at the moment.

But don’t let that get in the way of your fantasy - I’m looking forward to my time off before I retire in your world!

If you're going to have a fantasy 52 weeks off, just have the fantasy sabbatical, there's no need to fantasise that it's in place of maternity leave. Maternity leave is a very specific form of leave for a very specific purpose, just like paternity leave, sick leave, annual leave, bereavement leave. We don't need to begrudge the people who qualify for them.

If I had 52 weeks off, I'd wait until my kids were adults and I'd go travelling, maybe learn a language. Rest. Enjoy the lack of responsibility (i.e. all the antithesis of maternity leave!).

Perhaps my friends are exceptional, but my friends who have taken parental leave to raise children have all said it was the most incredible experience of their life. They have visibly grown as people. They are joyous and absolutely revel in their new status as parents. It absolutely was a break from work for them.

So… shouldn’t everyone be able to access that kind of joy and self development?

I just think it’s an interesting thought experiment to do.

if everyone got, say, 104 weeks of paid sabbatical in their lifetime and that had to cover lifestyle choices such as extended holidays, extended charity work, or choosing to raise a child, then it’s interesting to discover how people would “spend” it.

Many of my friends found child raising extremely joyous and would choose that every time rather than travelling or self-discovery through study or similar. And if you would rather travel than raise children, then maybe children aren’t the right lifestyle choice?

Oh come on, you surely can't be this obtuse. Somehow I don't think a year tending to courgettes on your allotment would be the most joyful and incredible experience of your life.

Honestly, I just find the inclusion of maternity leave in your uses for the 104 weeks really offensive. Why maternity leave and not sick leave? The view of maternity leave as some kind of holiday is a view I find very unfeminist, and yet another example of women's unpaid labour being undervalued.

Have the fantasy 104 weeks off, there's no need to make this a childfree vs parent thing.

I had nearly a year off several years ago, that was paid in full for the first 6 months then half pay, but as I was going through cancer treatment I didn't really do anything other than cry, throw up and attend hospital appt where my colleagues would self consciously visit me.

When I got back, part time for the first 6 months I got told by several women who had been on many mat leaves that I'd had a rest and my time off wasn't as hard as theirs. As my treatment had rendered me infertile, and as the combined effects of early menopause and facing my mortality had given me a wobble in my secure childfree status, I found it insensitive and hurtful.

I'd kill for even a week off at the moment. A year, wow. I'd travel, mooch around at home with my partner, foster even more animals than we do now and sleep.

When I got back, part time for the first 6 months I got told by several women who had been on many mat leaves that I'd had a rest and my time off wasn't as hard as theirs

That parental empathy superpower again.

It’s only become a parent vs childless thing because ONCE AGAIN parents can’t just respect what the board is for and not post if the thread is irrelevant to their circumstances. But hey ho.

*Honestly, I just find the inclusion of maternity leave in your uses for the 104 weeks really offensive. Why maternity leave and not sick leave? The view of maternity leave as some kind of holiday is a view I find very unfeminist, and yet another example of women's unpaid labour being undervalued.

Have the fantasy 104 weeks off, there's no need to make this a childfree vs parent thing*

Perhaps you should just not click on this board, then, and leave it to the childfree?

The thread is in Active. I have no problem with the board, doubt I've posted on it before, and no problem with a fantasy 52 weeks off. I've quite enjoyed planning mine in my head, and in truth it's not an unusual fantasy for me.

Discussion and debate are allowed on MN, and we are free to post that we find things disagreeable regardless of where they're posted.

I'd do exactly what I now do as a SAHM with two kids at school, potter around and plan to definitely absolutely start that project/masters/novel etc next week 😂