krebbe wrote:I realised that those jobs don't make enough money for your wife to stay at home and you would probably end up in the majority where two parents have to work.
I want a job that earns enough money that my wife can stay at home to look after the kids, if she wants to, and we can still be financially comfortable. It's a shame that's an ambition now instead of taken for granted.
I was about to get very angry at you, when I read the qualifier. I think the problem is that in most countries, there's no kind of paid maternity leave (or if there is, it's only for six months or some other ridiculously short period of time).
My mother was at home with me full-time until I was two. She then put me into child care for a year, and says that that year was one of the most miserable of her life. When my sister was born, she took more time off, and then until I was nine and my sister was five, she worked part-time. She went back to full-time when we were both at school, but managed to work only during the hours we were at school. I'd like to have a job like hers where you have the security to set your own hours. Unfortunately that's very difficult.
In Australia, there's a lot of carping on about 'flexibility' in the workplace. Unfortunately, the flexibility is all on the side of employers, making it very difficult for a woman to have a fulfilling career and give her family the kind of attention and care that they deserve. [/feminist rant]