parental leave + unequal payment

[11bG]

German learners of English are curious about your opinion!

Dear mumsnet-users,

we, a German class of learners of English as a foreign language, are currently working on the topic ?The world of work? and have been focussing on gender-related issues such as maternity/paternity leave and the unequal payment for men and women?s jobs. We would like to get first-hand information from people who are willing to share their experience with us.
Please take a few minutes and answer our questions to help us get a clear picture of the present situation of young people around the world.

Thank you so much for taking your time!

1. How would you react if you learned that your male colleague earns more for doing exactly the same work as you?

1. Would you stay at home as a househusband and care for your child instead of your wife while she is working?

1. Is it necessary to have both maternity and paternity leave, or just one or the other?

1. Have you ever experienced unequal treatment in the workplace?

1. As a man, would you accept a decrease in your salary with regard to equal pay for men and women in the workplace?

1. Obviously I'd be outraged. I think I would take it up with my boss.

1. My husband and I are planning that we will share childcare of our daughter when I return to work (currently on maternity leave) - he will work 2.5 days a week and I will work 3 days a week, when we are not working we will each look after our daughter, and my mum will look after our daughter for the one day a week when we are both working. So in answer to your question, my husband will indeed be a househusband while I work! (By the way, he is a secondary school teacher and I am a civil servant).

1. Hm, not sure. The UK does have a big difference betweeen maternity leave (statutory leave is up to a year) and paternity leave (two weeks), which seems pretty unfair.

1. No.

1. Although I'm not a man, this doesn't seem fair to either sex.

Good luck with learning English!