We fully back Marie Claire’s campaign for paid maternity leave, but more also needs to be done to help men take time off in early parenthood. We found that one in five couples splits by the time their kids are at school – that’s more than 50,000 of the 265,000 children born last year – and this causes huge social and economic costs. That’s why both mums and dads need to be able to take time off to bond as a family.
Relieving financial pressures and increasing choice will help avoid family breakdown. The baby bonus encourages couples to become parents – but we also need to help couples to be parents. Recent surveys have shown that Australians are less happy than they used to be and having less sex than other countries – if we’re to reverse this then we have to do more to support couples at one of their most challenging times: early parenthood.
Some businesses are already leading the way in parenting rights. They recognise how important it is to offer the paid leave and flexible working that will help them maintain their workforce. St Georges’ recent announcement on flexible working for grandparents is just the latest example of where the private sector is showing what can be done. We are collating a list of top Australian employers and what they’re doing to support families and will publish this shortly.
Melanie Roberts-Fraser and Oliver Roberts
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How your relationship can survive children and what to do if it doesn"t
Parenthood should be the most precious, fun-filled times of our lives... yet one in five of us split by the time our kids are school-age. There are thousands of parenting books out there, but this is the one Mums and Dads need - not just to survive parenthood together, but to really enjoy it.
