I read with interest a recent article in the Telegraph about employers offering maternity pay to women without children.
The idea of ‘maternity’ pay for childless women seems a bit absurd when phrased like that. However, some sort of sabbatical in order to invest time in a worthwhile project outside of work, in lieu of maternity leave, seems like a sensible and rewarding prospect, not just for childless women, but for men as well.
I came across an interesting range of views on the Parenting forums and one which I thought was particularly helpful from an anonymous writer:
“I am two months out from a c-section myself, so I understand the recovery time needed, and I appreciate the opportunity I've had to stay home and bond with my son. But I also understand that I made the choice to "need" this leave time. Yes, it's important for me to work on my family relationships, and yes, this will help the community, but there are many other ways I could be contributing to the greater good. What if I had decided to remain childless, but wanted three months to volunteer mentoring homeless children? Wouldn't that also be important? I don't think this is a ridiculous question at all. We live in such a "mommy culture" that I think a lot of people place motherhood on a pedestal, while overlooking the many other ways women can contribute to society. What if everyone got three (or twelve!) months of "personal development" time, to be spent in whatever way they thought of as most important? Many women would certainly choose to have children, but some might decide to go develop water purification systems in Ethiopia.”
I was impressed with her balanced view on a potentially divisive issue. Personally, I think it's very important for new mothers to have time off to be able to care for their newborn children and I certainly don't begrudge my friends and colleagues their maternity leave. But as a single person who is highly unlikely to have children, I would love to be able to take some time out of my job to work on a Christian project in the developing world. Not only am I denied this opportunity, but I have to work full-time in order to make ends meet as I am solely reliant on my income, so it makes it very difficult to pursue other options like working part time and volunteering in my spare time.
Many women and men would have loved to have children but for one reason or another are unable to. For so many the pain of not being able to have children is intensified by being discriminated against for being single and childless. In addition to all this, childless people in the workplace often have a heavier workload to cover for colleagues who are on maternity leave and there is an assumption that single people have no ties and therefore can be prevailed upon to work all the time for very little reward. We have lots to offer to the wider community, but sadly are often struggling to keep our heads above water.
I think it would be fairer if we were all given an opportunity for extended leave to use for the thing that we deem to be most worthwhile, whether that be bringing up children, voluntary work or some other means of giving back to society.
