Half 'would split maternity leave'

Klingon Hamlet

I saw this, and there was a recent discussion around maternity leave in this forum but I can't locate it. Anyway it makes for an interesting insight:

Around half of women would split their maternity leave with their partner if they had the opportunity, new research reveals.
Mothers-to-be in Dublin were slightly less willing to share their time away from work than their counterparts in Ulster, Connaught and Munster.

Mothers are entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave together with 16 weeks of unpaid time away.

The online survey of 1,000 women also found that more than two-thirds would rather stay at home than go back to employment after their baby is born.

Half of women aged between 16 and 24 were more eager to get back to the grind, while 72% of those over 35 thought staying at home was a much more attractive option.

Of the women surveyed, half said they encountered difficulties integrating back into work following maternity leave.

Sarah O'Neill, occupational health adviser with QUINN Healthcare, which commissioned the research, said the evidence showed older women found it tougher to balance motherhood and work.

"Typically, this age group must often rely solely on creches and childminders compared to younger mums who can call on family members if they are stuck," Ms O'Neill said.

"The cost of creches and childminding facilities may also factor in this, particularly in the current economic climate."

I wonder why Dublin mums are less favourable to sharing parental leave? Do you reckon their jobs would be on average more stressful, so the leave is more necessary for them?

It's interesting to note how so many couples would like to share the time off. I wonder if at some stage in the future will there be a simple form, and each couple decide who gets what time off.

silja

I wouldn't share. My main reason is that I breastfeed- did 6 months with the twins, plan on longer with this one- and while pumping is a possibility when going back to work, it is more diffiucult than just nursing. So unless I could not breastfeed, I would not split my maternity leave.

Bill2673

I would guess, and its just a guess, that the reason for differentials between the 16-24 age group and 35+ or whatever it is, is that an older person will (i) have a more secure job (ii) a different (I was going to say better, but thats a matter of opinion) perspective on the importance of work vs the importance of home and (iii) maybe not too enthused about rushing back to work given that they've been working for much longer.

As regards splitting the leave, I presume this means the mother takes 3 months off and then the father takes 3 months off afterwards. As such, I don't see why creche costs/ family support would come into it.

Somehow the stats don't add up though. Half would share leave with a partner if given the choice (i.e. would rather return to work sooner than the 6 months if their partner could take over at home) while 72% would give up work after the birth if they had the choice?

Klingon Hamlet

Bill2673 wrote: »

Somehow the stats don't add up though. Half would share leave with a partner if given the choice (i.e. would rather return to work sooner than the 6 months if their partner could take over at home) while 72% would give up work after the birth if they had the choice?

From how I read it: 50% of all mums would split, 72% of mums 35y.o.+ would give up work.

Bill2673

I had the figure wrong but the inconsistency is the same:

study "found that more than two-thirds would rather stay at home than go back to employment after their baby is born".

"Around half of women would split their maternity leave with their partner if they had the opportunity, new research reveals".

Anyway, not a biggie......I'm sure Quinn Direct has done its homework :-)

Its a bit vague.....does that 2/3rds mean they would rather give up work, or they would rather take the full maternity leave.....

lynski

I have little bee in my bonnet about this one. I really think in this day and age that families should have the power to decide - imagine you are in a job that does not pay maternity leave and you hubbie is not working, you have a baby and you go back to work early because you need the money, why cant you hubbie be entitled to the 'maternity' period as it is recognised as a time needed to look after a small baby?
It is an equality issue in my view. Breastfeeding and other issues aside, families are best placed to make the decisions on who is the best caregiver and what situation is best for them.

caprilicious

Lynski that's a very good point, I know of couples in similar circumstances & it would make a lot more sense (financially) for the father to have stayed at home & the mum to return to work.

bugler

Sharing leave is a bit of a red herring to me. The option should be there, but we really need Paternity Leave entitlements introduced. I don’t know if anyone else caught it but there was a discussion on Newstalk yesterday evening around 6.30 pm with Irish Times writer Brian O’Connell on the issue of sharing maternity leave and paternity leave generally. It was good to get the issue more exposure, and hopefully may culminate in greater paternity leave entitlements being brought in.

Most pleasing was BOC hammered the point in repeatedly that Ireland is the least progressive country in the EU regarding Paternity Leave. Never mind the Northern European states, we rank at the bottom of the table (it wasn’t mentioned on the show, but I think there may be a couple of other states like the Czech Rep. & Greece that are alongside us). It doesn’t reflect well on us and is yet another reminder of our archaic constitution and its warped, outdated views of gender in our society.

To make you all jealous, in Sweden I understand there is 16 months paid parental leave to be shared between parents as it suits them. That is progressive, and that benefits children who will then benefit society.

Moonbeam

Fathers are also entitled to parental leave in Ireland (16 weeks)
I like Swedens system.
I still can not believe that there is no right to paternity leave here.

mohawk

I am going to be honest and say I wouldn't of shared my maternity leave with my boyfriend. Purely out of selfishness as I loved being at home with my son.
As it turns out my boyfriend lost his job a couple weeks after I went back to work in Jan and has been taking care of our son ever since. They are so close now and even though we are poor it is good for our son to be close to his dad

Must look into moving to sweden

bugler

Fathers are also entitled to parental leave in Ireland (16 weeks)

Yes, and I'll be glad to use at least some of that. But it is unpaid. Which means it may not be an option for many, and comes at a considerable cost to others.

Ireland is not a good country for the regular worker to live in.

caprilicious

They really have it sussed in Sweden, not just excellent maternity/paternity leave but they basically kit out baby with all the essential clothes/small items too :eek:
http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/english.nsf/NET/180408150632HS

Moonbeam

I love the idea of the baby box and childcare subsidies.

but not so much

"Two babies in three years

You can draw maternity, paternity or parental allowance at a rate calculated on the basis of the income that was used to calculate a previous allowance, if you are expecting or adopting another child and the expected date of delivery or adoption precedes your previous child's 3rd birthday or the date on which 3 years have elapsed since you assumed care for an adopted child."

or

Mothers are entitled to take maternity leave while receiving Maternity Allowance from Kela. You can go on maternity leave 50 days before the due date at the earliest and 30 days before the due date at the latest. You can choose yourself when to go on maternity leave.

Maternity Allowance is paid for the first 105 days of entitlement (not including Sundays and other holidays).

K-9

caprilicious wrote: »

They really have it sussed in Sweden, not just excellent maternity/paternity leave but they basically kit out baby with all the essential clothes/small items too :eek:
http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/english.nsf/NET/180408150632HS

Wow, imagine trying to bring that in here, now? The right wingers would have a fit!

IMO, it should be interchangeable. If a mother wants to go back to work after 2 months say, the remaining leave should be available to the Husband.

AFAIK, the EU have proposals in the pipeline so there is hope yet.

LegacyUser

Parents should be allowed to split the leave.

I would imagine the bias in Dublin might be recorded because they simply interviewed more people in Dublin? It hasn't said if an equal number of people from each province were interviewed.