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Maybe taking care of aging parents with dementia is a better example, although it's less voluntary than children are.

betterunix2 6y ago
Parenting is not voluntary. Yes, becoming a parent is voluntary, but once you have a child in your home you cannot put being a parent on hold while you focus on other things.
- jbay808 6y ago
  I didn't say that parenting is voluntary.
  - kelnos 6y ago
    If not, then what's the point of the comparison you're making?
    - jbay808 6y ago
      That your parents might get dementia, and you might even have to quit your job to take care of them full time if you don't get sufficient leave, and unlike children, that's not even something that you likely made a plan and budget for in advance, or a lifestyle that you chose willingly despite the stress. It's just one of many possible severely challenging, non-optional commitments that can arise in life. (This is in the context of supporting making parent leave available for non-parents).
      - betterunix2 6y ago
        Actually where I work you do not get "parental" leave, you get "family" leave which can also be used to care for aged parents (for a time, just like parental leave, until more permanent arrangements can be made). It is also irrelevant to the article, which is not about normal benefits that parents utilize, but the extraordinary considerations being made right now (and again, where I work, those extraordinary policies can be invoked for taking care of any family member, not just children and not just blood relatives). Note also that parents did not choose the situation we are currently in. This is not a matter of lifestyle choice. The lifestyle we chose when we decided to have kids included the expectation of childcare during the day and that is what is failing here.
- throw554324 6y ago
  In some cultures (and countries), taking care of your elderly parents is also not voluntary.
sokoloff 6y ago
Voluntary enrollment in nursing/assisted living facilities is far more accepted (for good reason) than voluntarily turning your children over to foster or other care arrangements. In that regard, I’d say that elder care is more voluntary than childcare.
- jbay808 6y ago
  That really depends on the particular assisted living facilities, and the state of your particular parents, and in support of the suggestion that a company offer "taking care of someone" time universally rather than just to those with kids, I'd prefer not to have a corporate officer determining at what exact level of deterioration my taking care of an elderly parent becomes involuntary.

Parenting is not voluntary. Yes, becoming a parent is voluntary, but once you have a child in your home you cannot put being a parent on hold while you focus on other things.

jbay808 6y ago
I didn't say that parenting is voluntary.
- kelnos 6y ago
  If not, then what's the point of the comparison you're making?
  - jbay808 6y ago
    That your parents might get dementia, and you might even have to quit your job to take care of them full time if you don't get sufficient leave, and unlike children, that's not even something that you likely made a plan and budget for in advance, or a lifestyle that you chose willingly despite the stress. It's just one of many possible severely challenging, non-optional commitments that can arise in life. (This is in the context of supporting making parent leave available for non-parents).
    - betterunix2 6y ago
      Actually where I work you do not get "parental" leave, you get "family" leave which can also be used to care for aged parents (for a time, just like parental leave, until more permanent arrangements can be made). It is also irrelevant to the article, which is not about normal benefits that parents utilize, but the extraordinary considerations being made right now (and again, where I work, those extraordinary policies can be invoked for taking care of any family member, not just children and not just blood relatives). Note also that parents did not choose the situation we are currently in. This is not a matter of lifestyle choice. The lifestyle we chose when we decided to have kids included the expectation of childcare during the day and that is what is failing here.
throw554324 6y ago
In some cultures (and countries), taking care of your elderly parents is also not voluntary.

sokoloff 6y ago

Voluntary enrollment in nursing/assisted living facilities is far more accepted (for good reason) than voluntarily turning your children over to foster or other care arrangements. In that regard, I’d say that elder care is more voluntary than childcare.

jbay808 6y ago
That really depends on the particular assisted living facilities, and the state of your particular parents, and in support of the suggestion that a company offer "taking care of someone" time universally rather than just to those with kids, I'd prefer not to have a corporate officer determining at what exact level of deterioration my taking care of an elderly parent becomes involuntary.