The following quote is from Renatta Marie Cooper, Education
Coordinator for the Los Angeles County Office of Child Care.
I
also believe women should have a choice, and one of those choices should be not
to use childcare, stay home with their child if that’s what they want to do.
I like this quote because it brings up an important
issue, the value of a mother staying home with her child. Unfortunately, it is
often financially difficult for mothers to stay home with their children. My
own daughter is an example of a mother that would rather stay home but can’t
stay home because of financial reasons. One issue is how long a graduate’s college
financial aid payment can be suspended after a baby’s birth. My daughter’s
financial aid payment is the only reason she needs to work. The financial aid
payment requirement is not suspended even for a month after a baby is born.
There are also issues with how long employees have for a leave of absence due
to a baby’s birth and whether an employee is paid during that leave of absence.
Liz, I love this quote. I completely agree with you. I just had my first child in Sept. and I just went back to work Jan. 2nd. If I had the option I would not be working. I wanted so bad to find a way to stay home with my son instead of sending him to a babysitter. However, for the same reason as your daughter, I had to go back to work. While on maternity leave, I was able to receive 2/3 my pay for the first 6 weeks after that it was all unpaid. I chose to take the unpaid weeks because I felt it was more important for me to be with my son than to worry about money. I lived on a strict budget those weeks but I feel I made the best decision. I think both the mom and dad should be able to take the first year off if finacially possible. My boyfriend was only able to take 1 week off and that was all unpaid but again he felt it was more important to be there with the baby than to worry about the money.
ReplyDeleteHi Victoria,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your affirmation of this important issue!