Paid paternity leave for fathers

[metagirl]

I'm a young married, not yet with kids but wonder what everyone thinks about the government's newest proposal to extend paid paternity leave to fathers so that they can take up to 3 months off?

i think its good that they are encouraging fathers to take more responsibility for parenting but what about people who don't have kids - because they can't or won't? Is this unfair to them? and what if businesses start limiting benefits or change hiring practices to accomodate this change? is this the beginning of "father discrimination" - ? 

[OBonio]

At �100 per week stat paternity, no-one would be able to afford to take 3 months off. I only took 1 week stat + 2 weeks annual leave. Better than nothing I suppose, but it's still a joke compared to the cost of living nowadays.

As for being fair.... life isn't and never will be. Those that WON'T have kids seem to be the worst at this sort of whinging. They seem to think that having a kid is a walk in the park and us parents get some kind of special treatment on top of it. Oh so little they know.

[jake-the-peg]

Isn't that a bit like asking isn't it unfair to people who have been fit all year that they haven't been able to take sick leave?

People are entitled to benefits on a basis of need not a basis of equality.

I dare say there'll be the usual cry of how it will cripple the economy - you remember when the minimum wage was introduced how the four horsemen of the financial apocalypse were arriving at the gates of British industry.

But in the long term I'd reckon not many people will take it up - unpaid leave is of use to a very limited few

[maggie01]

I agree fathers should be able to spend more time with their children providing that is what they do. But when I had my children. My husband took his two weeks annual holiday and that was it. It was not any harder to bring up children then that it is now.

[woofgang]

benefits are intended to support people in situations that they could not help!!!

In the NHS when someone takes parental leave, there is no backfill and no reimbursement of the salary which the mother or father continues to receive, the rest of the staff just have to pick up the extra work or patients just don't get seen. grrrrr!!

[january_bug]

Just to add a spanner to the works, think of all the people who have 4 fag breaks a day, which gives them effectively a day a month off!  If fater's could also have two working weeks off without anybody asking, then that might be nice too!

Economically it's all very complicated and of course the costs of bringing in temporary staff or of burdening colleagues while fathers are off is a problem. 

What must be borne in mind is that raising a child is a productive activity that brings economic gain to the country in the long run.  Therefore, when putting it down to cold hard cash, the benefits, as well as the costs, of paternity leave must be remembered!

[january_bug]

PS - Whilst it might be the case that parenting is no harder today than in previous year, it is now more widely recognised that it is important for BOTH parents to be involved in the process.  Just because people haven't had rights before doesn't mean they shouldn't get those rights now.  An attitude like that would see women, and anyone under 21 not being allowed to vote!!!  We must recognise that sometimes progress and change are needed!

[Oneeyedvic]

...says the girl who is happy to have a career and presumably leave her child with childminders / in a ceche / in after school clubs etc.

 

:-p

[maggie01]

january bug I was just trying to say that some men and I say some may just make this an excuse and be of no assistance at all. I do believe in equal rights to a certain extent but having a child is a chosen thing and no one should expect anyone else to pay for the privelege. Women get maternity leave . I am not saying we should go back to the old days but I do think people expect too much. While I am at it I don't believe in family allowance either. I'f you cannot afford to have children then don't. I am not saying if anyone finds themselves in financial difficulty through no fault of their own shouldn't get help but it seems to easy to expect someone else to pay for everything.

[maggie01]

a ps. What happens when its time for both parents to go back to work if that is the case. As oneeyedvic says sometimes the child goes to creche or a childminder so wheres the sense in that. You do not just bond for a couple of months. What happens when they take their first step. first word. Parents are not always there to see or hear it. This isn't an ideal world.

[Miss Zippy]

It�s just another wishy washy policy trying to make the government look like it cares about family values (ironic, seeing as the policy follows a raft of tax and benefit policies that make it almost more beneficial financially speaking to be a lone parent). How many families will seriously be able to take advantage of this policy (bearing in mind the man will only get �106 per week)? Those that have the means to be able to effectively support themselves for 6 months are in the kind of jobs where it would be professional suicide to take six months off work.

[january_bug]

vic - I'm 22 and I don't have children...or a career as yet. 

I suppose you're now going to say that I shouldn't have an opinion on this either - too young etc. 

[shaneystar]

More twaddle from the government. You either choose to have children or you don't simple as that and at the end of the day they are your responsibility.When I had mine my husband had time off work taken as holiday.We had to get on with it. Family allowance was given in one hand and taken back in taxes in the other from my husbands wages.People cannot have it all.
They want careers ,the big house,the latest gizmos and so on and then the kids After the novelty wears off the children are bunged in a day centre or creche.If the government want to promote family values they should make it easier for women to stay at home and look after their children properly.Unless you are really money oriented it must be heart rending for a new Mum to have to put her child in a creche and go back to work to feed the exchequer. As for paternity leave how would the main breadwinner be able to survive on this paltry sum for three months.
And on a lighter note I think my husband was glad to be able to escape back to work away from the all the chaos that a new baby brings .

[january_bug]

Oh I get it now - so given that these comments are now extended to sl.a.g off mothers, the conclusion is that poor people shouldn't be allowed children, and that women should make a clear choice - kids or career.  Well, in that case, if you want grandchildren, best tell your kids to drop out of school at 16 and get a job in Tesco - seeing as you won't want them trying to combine self-achievement and family life - heaven forbid!

[maggie01]

There are a lot of people who choose to have children stay at home and look after them (if money allows) and when the children are old enough the mothers still go on to have a career. So yes you can have both but not at the same time. Also that way your parents still have grandchildren. I feel sorry for mums who have to go back to work but sometimes I still think they want it all and all at once

[shaneystar]

Which is precisely what I said in my post.I am not slating mothers at all..I am after all one myself. By the way, mine did not drop out of school at 16 nor have they ever worked in Tescos.They are now grown men with good jobs..And I daresay they will provide me with grandchildren in due course and if they don't that's their decision.I didn't have them just to provide for me in my old age! I went back to work when school started but had to fit my job in round them. I didn't expect others to look after them and had no family near to help either.As I said there must be nothing worse than putting your child in a creche because circumstances dictate that you HAVE to go to back to work.If you choose to have children then I was brought up to believe you look after them.Wait until you try to juggle buying a home,bringing up kids,going to work and running that home before you slate me off as a mother jan bug.There is too much mollycoddling these days.People should stand on their own two feet.As maggie says you can have it all but not all at once.

[january_bug]

Usual crap - january bug is too young to have an opinion!

I slated NO ONE as a mother - read what I said before patronising me PLEASE!

First - the thing about "tell your kids to drop out of school" - I meant daughters.  It's clear that you think people are incapable of high career achievement AND motherhood. 

Second - I never ONCE commented on anyone's abilities as a mother (I'm repeating myself because I need to get tht through to you)

Third - why won't any of you even CONSIDER that people have a RIGHT to parenthood, and that children have a RIGHT to have their parents around them.  We're only talking about 3 months for the father here. 

I hope you treat your grown up children with more respect than you treat me and my opinions.  And I hope you listen to them before judging them - something you're not bothering to do to me. 

I haven't yet worked out if I'll have kids myself, but I would like the option.  I would like a career, I'd like that choice too.  And not ONE of you lot is going to take that choice away from me. 

[january_bug]

PS - What about Catholic families who don't use contraception for religious reasons.  They might have more children than otherwise they would have done and the parents might need to go back to work a little sooner.  Are you now saying that mothers who are Catholic and also ot well off are now bad mothers?  Careful how you go. 

[maggie01]

january bug. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I think there is probably a dividing line here where people of a certain age (myself included) think differently to the younger generation. It is the way we were brought up. I don't think anyone is trying to take away your choice of how you live your life if and when you have children. A question was asked a people gave their opinion and thats what it is an opinion.  I don't think there is any reason for anyone to get personal. We all have different ideas.

[shaneystar]

Have I mentioned rich poor or catholics..I don't think so.People cut their own cloth according to their coats.My parents managed to bring up five children up without resorting to hand outs and mollycoddling by the state.
We will have to agree to disagree.Different generation,different views.I am entitled to my opinion as much as anybody else. My children have had more opportunities than I ever had and for your information I treat my children with a great deal of respect and they in turn respect us.
Trouble is with you janb when someone dares to disagree with you ... you can get quite spiteful.
Perhaps I ought to give Ward-Minter a shout.

[Piper-AK]

I had a little girl three months ago, and am still off on maternity leave.  I think it would be a good thing if parents could share the allowed maternity leave, whatever it is at the time, as they saw fit � e.g. the mum had three months, then the dad had three months (as things stand).  We're not asking for the rest of our lives off work, just enough time for our infants to adjust to being alive in the world, for us to adjust to being parents, and for the decency to be allowed to choose which partner should care for our little ones.  I�m sure we all agree that babies should not be bunged in nurseries from day one, so therefore someone has to look after them.  .