Idolising Children?

The Human Rights and Equal Opprtunity Commission are gaining soem more traction on the issue of maternity leave. It is good to see the call for paid maternity leave has not gone away.

What has gone away was the calls from a couple of years ago by HREOC for a partnerhsip movement. Pru Goward was a fan of this concept. She said:

Men and women are the two faces on the coin of humanity; to pit them against each other is to damage both.

A partnership movement would be different - in tone, in approach. Inevitably it’s going to be more complicated and less spectacular than the glory and spoils of war, but it might be the only real choice if we are to resolve these issues.

A refocus not simply on what women deserve, but opn what men should also be doing and deserve is needed. Otherwise the debate will continue to be out of step. Men need to be given the chance to work less and contribute more domestically. Goward used to run the line that while women statsitically have increased their workforce participation, men have not increased their participation in domestic life.

Real balance is about having a suite of options. It might be that Labor’s policy has a better chance of meeting the needs of the contemporary family who want a range of different arrangements at different stages of their life. I’d argue that it still needs some work…but it does need a greater commitment to maternity leave…along with flexibility.

My call…women must have paid maternity leave - but even when they do men still need to help cook dinner, do the dishes and look after the baby!