Where’s the money for mums?
Do men go through this, or is it only women who hold their breath at Budget time, hoping the Treasurer has remembered them?
Could we not have our own private lock-up where we can let out resounding cheers, weep or punch the wall, depending on whether the Budget will make our lives easier or, indeed, change our lives?
Peter Costello has cited mothers as among the under-employed and wants Australian workplaces to be “the most women-friendly in the world”, which had us hoping for the best.
He has also urged us to have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country. But then came the Budget.
With added incentives for mums to go back to work via generous boosts to child-care benefits and quick-access rebates, but still no compulsory paid maternity leave, it sends a mixed message, don’t you think?
Governments seem to be edging closer to comprehending that women want to work and have babies _ and even do it all at the same time.
But if you want to retain women in the workforce, and you want to populate the nation, it has to be a no-brainer.
You get paid to go on holidays or to stay in bed with a migraine _ but when it comes to populating the nation, you’re expected to be a volunteer.
Along with our allies in the US, we’re the only country in the OECD not to mandate paid time off for rearing babies. How embarrassing. How draconian. How else are we supposed to get the job done?
This generation of young women is the best educated ever, yet the way things are going, they’ll reach a stalemate when they try to juggle those skills with motherhood.
They may be forced to make a choice. And it’s not an easy one when you look at what’s been handed out to the Deputy Opposition Leader.
If Julia Gillard had children, she’d no doubt be pilloried for taking on such a demanding job when she should be at home with them.
Instead, she’s copped it, most recently from Bill Heffernan with his 1950s condemnation of her childlessness, forbeing “deliberately barren”.
You can’t win sometimes, can you?
It was uplifting to see the bipartisan condemnation of Senator Heffernan. Political boundaries came crashing down in an instant as the sisterhood united.
Liberal senator Helen Coonan said her colleague’s comments were “absolutely unacceptable”.
Labor’s Tanya Plibersek suggested he apologise to the thousands of couples struggling to conceive.
Heffernan has since said sorry, but the damage is done.
What about New Zealand’s Helen Clark, or Germany’s Angela Merkel? Dowe question their ability as leaders because they haven’t procreated?
Are TV’s Liz Hayes, Tracy Grimshaw or Sonia Kruger any less talented because they’re not mums?
It was 1919 when the International Labor Organisation first enunciated paid maternity leave, so perhaps this won’t be resolved in our lifetime.
It’s not the whole answer, but it would at least send the message that this country is backing us in having the lot. And this Budget would have been a perfect time to bring it on.
It is Mother’s Day, after all.