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| Yes | 81% | 92 votes | Total: 113 votes | |
| No | 19% | 21 votes |
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Add to FavoritesIn today's economy it is hard to raise a family with or without a dual income. We hear all the horror stories and the "experts" who tell us that if we send our children to daycare we are essentially signing them to be a statistic by ending up in a gang or worse, jail. There are people out there, and yes some are mothers privileged to stay home, who will look down on the mom who works and not even bother to hear her story. They are simply put into a category that more degrading than being a criminal.
Is putting our children in daycare really the most deadly sin we can commit? The answer quite simply is no. As a single mother I do not like sending my child to daycare. I would rather be home watching him learn all the wonders of his little world like I was able to do with his three older siblings. Circumstances being what they are, I have to work. Yes I work from home as a freelance writer and virtual assistant, but I also have a job that takes me away from the home to help pay the bills and my little one has to go to daycare. Look out world, here comes the next gun toting, drug snorting gang member in a few years!
Ask yourself this, would you rather teach your child to be responsible and do whatever it takes (within the perameters of the law of course) to take care of their family and sacrifice what may be important (like staying home), or would you rather teach your child its ok not to have supper once in awhile because mommy chose to stay home with you and can not afford to feed you dinner ever night? Personally I want to teach my daughters that doing the right thing may not always be the most enjoyable thing. It's certainly not always the most comfortable.
Next question, are you irresponsible because you have children but can not afford to stay home with them? Certainly not. Maybe when your children were born you had the luxury like I did to stay home with the children. My older three children had the luxury of dad going to work and mom being home full time. However, things change. Whether it be because the changing economy has made it impossible for you to stay home even if you downgrade your life, or as with a lot of us single women who have to work, you get divorced. How does any of that make you irresponsible? Do we really want to teach our children to look down on a woman because she chose to have children and couldn't stay home? This is really just another from of prejudice that we are teaching our kids is ok. Some think it is not predjuice because they are not targeting a different race or religion, but single moms, working moms or moms who make less than minimum wage. Prejudice in any form is still prejudice and no matter how you name it, it's wrong.
Maternity leave should be available to any woman regardless of what position she holds. Sure it may cost a bit more, but what doesn't these days. Women regardles of whether she is a waitress or a lawyer should be allowed to have some paid time at home with their children otherwise what incentive do they have to work and not go on welfare, which by the way pays more than a waitressing job!
Learn more about this author, Lisa Shaver.
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No
Even though I think it would be absolutely wonderful to get paid while on maternity leave, I do not think that making it a law or requirement should be enforced. Nor, do I think it is justifiable to mandate a company to be liable for the woman's decision to raise a family. So, my answer would be NO, I do not think that women should be paid for their maternity leave.
While bonding and recovery are primary reasons for the maternity leave (all excellent and completely valid reasons to leave work, may I add.), the woman cannot expect to be paid for her time spent at her newest job: being a mother. An employer is under no obligation to pay any other employee who is pursuing their interests, or other careers, or other "dreams" of theirs. Many people will see this as a female rights issue. Some may see my view as an anti-feminist stand. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am indeed in support of equal pay for men and women in the same position, as well as in the woman's right to work (if she so desires) and to make a living equal to that of her male counterparts. That is my point exactly. If a woman wants to be treated equally, she cannot EXPECT to be paid for scheduled time away from her job just like a man would not be paid for scheduled time away from his job. In all fairness, one would receive the maternity time off and be able to return to her position, much like a male employee would return from his sabbatical.
I whole-heartedly support the notion that women should be able to both raise a family AND work, if that is what they choose to do, or are perhaps obligated to do because of their personal financial situations. And, I do not think that the decision to have a child should affect the woman's employment. The job should be hers when she decides to come back to work. However, I do not think it should be the employer's financial responsibility to pay her while she is out of the office or out of the workforce. The employer will either have to temporarily replace her and pay for the temporary worker's salary, or they will face a loss in productivity which indirectly results in a loss of profits (no matter how small.) So, in essence, the fact that she is on leave has already put a financial "burden" of sorts on the company she worked for before her child was born.
If the company decides that it is in their best interest to pay their women employees for their maternity leave, as a perk of sorts, or benefit of employment with their company, then by all means, the employee should take advantage of that program. It would be a wonderful rule to have in the company's benefit plan for those employers that can financially afford the burden and who wish to keep their employee's happy and excited about working for their company. Looking at it from a standpoint of a smaller company, or a local-business owner, or a service-industry such as a restaurant, it may not be a financial realty to provide such a luxury. Thus, my reason for saying "no" to paid maternity leave lies in the law REQUIRING the paid leave.
Nature provides a wonderful nine-month preparation period an opportunity for the woman to save and budget for her up-coming maternity leave. I also believe that by saving and preparing before the baby arrives, she is truly readying herself for the monetary sacrifices she will have to make in the future as her child gets older.
Learn more about this author, T. GISKI.
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