Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's called insurance or medical leave. Most of us put into when we took our leave or we put money away when we took the time off. If we couldn't afford to stay at home we went back to work and juggled working and taking care of our familes at the same time. Those are the real hard working moms. Talk about not having a break for anything. I have read many a message boards when women have comlained about losing themselves and what to do what their free time. When you work and have children, there is no such thing as any free time. You're lucky is you have a few minutes for even a thought. There is no putting the child down for a nap and sitting for a moment bacause, you are either working or taking care of your child while you work at home. I'm not bashing any of you who stay at home but moms who work outside the home and come home and work have it rough and work a lot more than some of you have any idea inkling of.
For the record, I am a working mom. I am a federal employee, and my only "maternity leave" is that I am allowed to take off for 12 weeks, unpaid, and not lose my job (FMLA). That's hardly maternity leave, which is available in almost every other country as paid leave. Maybe it is silly to say that there should be government subsidizing of SAHMs for over $100K, but I don't think it is silly to advocate for some form of paid maternity leave.
...which is available in almost every other country as paid leave.
All the companies I've ever worked for offered up to 6 weeks of paid leave (for women only...i tried to con my way into getting to stay home for a while to help my wife but it didn't pan out).
All the companies I've ever worked for offered up to 6 weeks of paid leave (for women only...i tried to con my way into getting to stay home for a while to help my wife but it didn't pan out).
Yeah, Adventive is right, all our government requires with the FMLA is that a company can't fire you for taking up to 12 unpaid weeks off to bond with your newborn. How noble of them.
If you worked at a company that offered 6 weeks of paid leave, that is a great company to work for. Sadly, many companies don't offer maternity benefits like that. The company I worked for offered squat when I had my son. (Whoopi, they can't fire me for taking 12 unpaid weeks off after giving birth! )
When you were a child, did the internet exist? Where there cell phones? Where there SUVs every other car? Where McMasions the norm? Did you have a choice of 10 stores to buy a shirt from or just 1 or 2? Was WalMart around where you can go in & spend $50 without even thinking.
Did your family have two cars or did you survive with one? How about a tv in every room? DVD players?
The list can go on.
Think how that effect a budget.
Both parents work b/c of the unnecessary crap we've filled our lives with and this unnecessary stuff has become a necessity, somehow, someway.
With the current state of the economy, though, I hope people start to see just how LITTLE they can live on & hopefully society can get back on track a little.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I completely 100% agree with you. Things have changed in what we (we being used very generally here) consider necessary, not in what the dollar can buy. Excellent post!
I think the government should pay women to stay home and cook and do all that good stuff, thats more than most jobs pay and you get to stay home, sounds like a pretty good deal to me, what do you think?
They do that now in the city I live in. It's called welfare. It HAS to pay well because the women just keep having kids from different fathers, and none feel they need to go out and get a job.. so I figure that welfare pays good for them (and I see plenty of "help wanted" signs around!!) My wife works at a pediatrician's office and sees these lovely stay at home moms every day.
They do that now in the city I live in. It's called welfare. It HAS to pay well because the women just keep having kids from different fathers, and none feel they need to go out and get a job.. so I figure that welfare pays good for them (and I see plenty of "help wanted" signs around!!) My wife works at a pediatrician's office and sees these lovely stay at home moms every day.
How does she know which moms get welfare? My own kids are on the my state's uninsured/underinsured children's insurance program... how nice to know that our pediatricians' secretaries are assuming I milk the welfare system so I can sit on my butt all day.
How does she know which moms get welfare? My own kids are on the my state's uninsured/underinsured children's insurance program... how nice to know that our pediatricians' secretaries are assuming I milk the welfare system so I can sit on my butt all day.
Awww.. feeling guilty? Let's see... or rather let me rephrase. She doesn't "know" which families are on welfare... but most women TELL her when they are on there, and she knows which ones have state medical insurance and there's a strong correlation between the two. Not 100%, but more than enough to draw a generalization.
I fail to see where I accused anyone of sitting on their butts... I made a statement that welfare pays to many families in this town. I made a statement that many women (who I know personally and don't keep it a secret) have 3-4 children from 3-4 men. First of all, she shouldn't have to be on welare because the guys should be paying for child support!
Secondly... she's NOT a secretary.. how vain and shallow of you to assume that because she works for a pediatrician she's a secretary. (See how twisting words works?).
If the shoe fits.. wear it... otherwise... ignore.
When you were a child, did the internet exist? Where there cell phones? Where there SUVs every other car? Where McMasions the norm? Did you have a choice of 10 stores to buy a shirt from or just 1 or 2? Was WalMart around where you can go in & spend $50 without even thinking.
Did your family have two cars or did you survive with one? How about a tv in every room? DVD players?
The list can go on.
Think how that effect a budget.
Both parents work b/c of the unnecessary crap we've filled our lives with and this unnecessary stuff has become a necessity, somehow, someway.
With the current state of the economy, though, I hope people start to see just how LITTLE they can live on & hopefully society can get back on track a little.
Well, that's kind of my point, too! How much more could we do on our own, stay at home and produce our own basic needs!
Yes, I was a SAHM for several years and had one car and walked to the store barefoot both ways in the snow
We still live below our means (1 TV, recycled computer, patches on the kid's jeans... and we do it purposefully; I just don't choose to stay at home at this point in my children's lives. Let me just say health insurance is a big factor.
But this is not always a real choice. There are a lot of families where everyone HAS to work. For food. For clothes. For rent. Not for video games. And to say that it is a natural, achievable choice in America today for one parent to be a non-earner is not a fair assumption.
Yeah, Adventive is right, all our government requires with the FMLA is that a company can't fire you for taking up to 12 unpaid weeks off to bond with your newborn. How noble of them.
If you worked at a company that offered 6 weeks of paid leave, that is a great company to work for. Sadly, many companies don't offer maternity benefits like that. The company I worked for offered squat when I had my son. (Whoopi, they can't fire me for taking 12 unpaid weeks off after giving birth! )
It is a benifit the companies offer. However it isn't so uncommon. If you searched around they aren't hard to find. A lot of smaller companies do not offer benifits such as this.
But this is not always a real choice. There are a lot of families where everyone HAS to work. For food. For clothes. For rent. Not for video games. And to say that it is a natural, achievable choice in America today for one parent to be a non-earner is not a fair assumption.
I wrote to that effect in my post right before the one you quoted.
It's common sense that there are many, many a SAHM who DO NOT want to be and there are many, many a working mom who would do ANYTHING to be a SAHM.
But to the OP, I think it just needs to be taken with a light heart & not seriously. When the article came out in our local paper a few wks ago, I put it on our frig & our husband & I had a good laugh.
I know one mom who works b/c she doesn't want to be at home all day. I know several who work due to mortgages, food, & the biggest culprit....health insurance.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
It HAS to pay well because the women just keep having kids from different fathers, and none feel they need to go out and get a job.. so I figure that welfare pays good for them (and I see plenty of "help wanted" signs around!!) My wife works at a pediatrician's office and sees these lovely stay at home moms every day.
