Hey guys. It's been a while. Working full time has had an impact on my posts and I've just not felt very inspired to write anything. This is until today, I saw a post on LinkedIn that sparked rage deep inside. I wanted to share this post with you and tell you exactly what my thoughts are on today's policies on maternity and paternity leave.
So this is the post that inspired me to write today's entry. It reads:
"After 17 years in the industry, with the last 5 years being in senior leadership positions, has my career and experience really been scratched because I took 12 months off to have a baby? In the past few weeks, I have been chased by recruiters for 4 different roles. "Perfect fit" roles, according to them. However, all are junior, and all were paying at least $70k less than what I earnt before I went on leave.
"I'm assuming you're wanting something slow paced and less demanding", or this doozy "digital has changed a lot in a year so you might not be at the top of the game anymore". This should not be a thing. Ever.
I now understand why so many women leave media and advertising after having a baby. I won't be, but I now get why so many do."
How is this fair? Why are women subject to this?
I actually replied to this message with the following:
This reads:
"The whole maternity & paternity policies in place are outdated and were made to accommodate the old fashioned ways of working where the man went to work and the woman stayed at home.
Jump to today and women have just as much of a career as men, yet these policies haven't changed?
How is this fair that women are disadvantaged solely because they have made the decision to create life? Why do I have to choose between my career or having children? This should not impact my chances of progression and its fundamentally wrong.
I hope all businesses learn from this and ensure that their women (who are just as capable - or even more capable than their male colleagues) are able to come back to work and progress in their careers exactly the same as any male colleague.
It's time to change the rules and societies expectations when it comes to working women who decide to start a family".
SO what are my exact thoughts on this issue?
1. These policies are completely outdated.
As mentioned in my rant, these policies were made back when women would typically stay at home whilst the man went to work. But the thing is, women work just as much as men do now. So why hasn't this changed to reflect that?
2. Women need to work.
The world is an expensive place to live in. It might have been sufficient to live off one person's income a few years ago, but now that is hardly the case. Life is fucking expensive. Most people need two incomes to be able to survive in this economy. Yet, women suffer as a result of creating life as they come back to work and don't get offered the same opportunities as before. How is this fair?
4. What about men? Don't they want to spend time with their child too?
These policies are still biased towards the woman being the predominant career of the child/children. But what if the man wants to take the lead? Why is it fair they only get in some cases 1 week to experience their newborn child. It's not fair that they have to miss some of the most important moments just because of an old fashioned policy.
5. What about same-sex couples?
Plenty of same-sex couples have children too. But there are no clear policies for this. I remember seeing a story on twitter about two females. One was allowed the full maternity, whilst the other only received 2 weeks as they weren't the one giving birth. Yet both are mothers to this child?
6. How are businesses supporting these new mums? They aren't.
A lot of businesses are not supporting women. They come back after giving birth with no opportunities for progression or in some cases, even lower pay grades. And how are new mums expected to follow a 9-5 working schedule? Why aren't these businesses offering flexible working hours?
I could go on all day about these issues. But what really needs to happen is change. I hope by the time I have children I'm not in the posistion as many mothers are now. I hope things get better.
Love Rebecca Ashley x
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