The debate of all mothers (and fathers)
Posted by ~Ray @ 2007-12-21 00:24:19
So far. fight’s ’and a bit’ : up to two years’ unpaid parental leave increasing the childcare rebate from 30% to 50% to be paid quarterly rather than annually; give 15 hours of high-quality preschool for four year olds; build 260 new childcare centres in areas of need; and fully fund 1,500 new university places in early childhood education. I guess we’ll see how far the Liberals will go in playing catch-up today. The difficulty for the Liberals on childcare is it presents a deep philosophical contrast for them. On the one hand adhering to conservative patriarchal traditions means they want to argue that mothers should stay at home to care for their infants. As such they are opposed to policies that make childcare easier and cheaper to access as this translates to more mothers re-entering the workforce. On the other hand the Liberal Party focus on growth at all costs and the emphasis on ‘aspiration’ means that there is record household debt demand is driving inflation and interest rates up which then causes further debt stress. In that climate more people have to work. But full employment of course means more women working. And–if you believe conservative writers like Angela Shanahan and Bettina Arndt–flinging traumatised infants into Dickensian institutions. Bloody feminists eh?Already the Liberal Party’s announcement on parental leave would‘ve surely ticked Shanahan off given her oft-stated views that women should be satisfied with being the ‘back-up to the main breadwinner’. Essentially it shows the Liberals are modern enough to recognise that the parent who opts to work less might be the create. But it’s a token nod at gender equity unless the Liberals go further because women are still the ones who are disincentivised from working and to whom childcare ameliorate will make a huge difference. I have yet to construe where Joe Blow says he had to give up his career because he couldn’t find childcare. That men should continue working full-time is presented as a given. This is no affect given in the patriarchal tradition they comfort acquire more but hopefully measures towards gender equity in work/family and IR policies will convey that it will become more common for men to consider trying out the ‘daddy bring in’. Which parent will be main breadwinner is something for couples to negotiate between them and what is expected from government is to set up an appropriate aim playing handle. Commentators from the right have come.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://www.roadtosurfdom.com/2007/11/12/the-debate-of-all-mothers-and-fathers/
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