Originally Posted by
Harley's Dad
Well who looks after the children, The One Who? Or are we reaching a stage when no-one can afford to have them? I actually think that despite the present austerity (caused by government's previous bribing of the electorate) most people are better off than ever today, although they may be squirming at fuel bills and petrol costs.
I looked in at two pubs yesterday at lunchtime, looking for a friend, and both were packed with people eating and drinking as if there was no tomorrow.
Tony.
Where I live, the couple has a really hard time until the child is two. Then it's off to day care and the stay at home parent goes back to work. People save up a LOT of money in order to stay at home and the working parent may pick up an extra job in order to help keep afloat. What usually happens is the parents rely on an older kid or a relative of some sort to take care of the kid while the parents are at work. It is prohibitively expensive to have a child in day care before the age of two. And, unless the mother is very ill, the couple usually decides who will stay home based on who has the worse paying job and who has a better chance of rehire after a few years out of the job market.
Mothers don't usually get maternity leave beyond a few weeks and it's extremely rare that it's paid. For instance, while emergency family leave is provided for at my job (By LAW), maternity leave is not. They wouldn't HAVE to allow you to take time off for a kid. What would happen is you would be fired. And replaced. The end.