3 ms·

I'm a childless woman. This is by choice. I might consider adoption, but I have absolutely no desire to be pregnant nor give birth. I'm 40, by the way, and have

I'm a childless woman. This is by choice. I might consider adoption, but I have absolutely no desire to be pregnant nor give birth. I'm 40, by the way, and have known I didn't want children for at least 25 years. I'm happy to give parents time off. I'm happy parents get more sick days where I'm at to take care of their young children. I'm happy my taxes, in part, go to this. We actually need children. And parents have more responsibilities than I do. I want children to be educated and well cared for. The most selfish reason is that I want competent folks to take care of me when I'm old: The other is that I want humanity to be better when I leave the earth. There are costs and benefits to everything. Besides, I had/have the choice of becoming a mother and getting those benefits - though there is a lot to lose as well. And it isn't me.

cimmanom 8y ago
I agree. I just don’t understand why offering (and enthusiastically encouraging people to take) as much paternity leave as maternit leave would be a negative thing in this context.
- Broken_Hippo 8y ago
  I'm not sure. I think some folks are reacting to the forced paternity leave bit. And in one sense, I understand - but women don't realistically have those choices and I think most doctors would rather women didn't get right back to work. The other bit, as you've said in another reply, is that women get stuck with the assumption that she's going to take maternity leave and there is nothing the company can do about it. If it is extended to males, companies would have to worry about that with everyone and they'd rather not, thank-you-very-much. Offering is, I think, is both wonderful and not enough. If I understand correctly (immigrant here), Norway used to require some paternity leave and had a portion of parental leave that could be split between the two parents. At some point, the government quit making paternity leave a requirement, but still leaving it in place if the father wanted it and still allowing parental leave to be split between the parents. ... and fewer fathers took paternity leave at that point. The thing with not only offering but requiring such things is that it helps to change societal norms and expectations as long as they are offered for enough time. When it is simply optional, safeguards need to be put into place. I'm not the one to ask what the safeguards should be at the moment :)

cimmanom 8y ago

I agree. I just don’t understand why offering (and enthusiastically encouraging people to take) as much paternity leave as maternit leave would be a negative thing in this context.

Broken_Hippo 8y ago
I'm not sure. I think some folks are reacting to the forced paternity leave bit. And in one sense, I understand - but women don't realistically have those choices and I think most doctors would rather women didn't get right back to work. The other bit, as you've said in another reply, is that women get stuck with the assumption that she's going to take maternity leave and there is nothing the company can do about it. If it is extended to males, companies would have to worry about that with everyone and they'd rather not, thank-you-very-much. Offering is, I think, is both wonderful and not enough. If I understand correctly (immigrant here), Norway used to require some paternity leave and had a portion of parental leave that could be split between the two parents. At some point, the government quit making paternity leave a requirement, but still leaving it in place if the father wanted it and still allowing parental leave to be split between the parents. ... and fewer fathers took paternity leave at that point. The thing with not only offering but requiring such things is that it helps to change societal norms and expectations as long as they are offered for enough time. When it is simply optional, safeguards need to be put into place. I'm not the one to ask what the safeguards should be at the moment :)