4 ms·

Maybe we're not on the same page here. Definitely, the company cutting paid child leave from a year to 6 months is beneficial to the company. I disagree, though

Maybe we're not on the same page here. Definitely, the company cutting paid child leave from a year to 6 months is beneficial to the company. I disagree, though, that this is beneficial to the workers or society as a whole because this benefits cut results in more women working. Such a justification necessarily implies that it's worse for a woman to be a full time parent than to be part of the workforce, and I can't bring myself to agree with that premise.

kelnos 8y ago
> implies that it's worse for a woman to be a full time parent than to be part of the workforce For an individual, that might be the case. A mother who feels incentivized to drop out of the workforce due to childcare might later in life regret not having a career. A better balance of incentives that keeps someone working while ensuring childcare costs are taken care of (or at least subsidized) might make for a better outcome. For society, well... who knows. You may believe that it's better for the kid to have a full-time parent in the home, but I don't think that's a settled argument with any degree of certainty. Certainly some amount of full-time parenting is great (some would say essential) for a kid, and lack of it can cause early development issues, but if -- just making up numbers here -- after 9 months, having a full-time parent only makes things 10% better for a kid vs. having a part-time parent and part-time third-party childcare, maybe that's okay?
- manfredo 8y ago
  > You may believe that it's better for the kid to have a full-time parent in the home, but I don't think that's a settled argument with any degree of certainty I don't really believe either with any degree of certainty. What I do believe, though, is that parents should be empowered and equipped to make that choice for themselves. Which I why I don't see the positive impact in a company putting more financial pressure on couples to pick one of those choices is a good thing.

kelnos 8y ago

> implies that it's worse for a woman to be a full time parent than to be part of the workforce For an individual, that might be the case. A mother who feels incentivized to drop out of the workforce due to childcare might later in life regret not having a career. A better balance of incentives that keeps someone working while ensuring childcare costs are taken care of (or at least subsidized) might make for a better outcome. For society, well... who knows. You may believe that it's better for the kid to have a full-time parent in the home, but I don't think that's a settled argument with any degree of certainty. Certainly some amount of full-time parenting is great (some would say essential) for a kid, and lack of it can cause early development issues, but if -- just making up numbers here -- after 9 months, having a full-time parent only makes things 10% better for a kid vs. having a part-time parent and part-time third-party childcare, maybe that's okay?

manfredo 8y ago
> You may believe that it's better for the kid to have a full-time parent in the home, but I don't think that's a settled argument with any degree of certainty I don't really believe either with any degree of certainty. What I do believe, though, is that parents should be empowered and equipped to make that choice for themselves. Which I why I don't see the positive impact in a company putting more financial pressure on couples to pick one of those choices is a good thing.