Thought you all might be interested to read this, it didn't
half annoy me. No mention of crèches for those who go back
to work, but then maybe the full info did?
See what you think....
Jenny.
MOTHERS WHO STAY WITH THEIR CHILDREN ARE A REAL PROBLEM.
(so say labour's equality bullies.)
Steve Doughty.
Mothers of young children should go out to work, the
government declared
yesterday. They should stay in their jobs to help the
economy and pay back
the cost of their education, ministers said.
According to a new policy paper on equality for women,
backed by four
Cabinet ministers, there are 'real problems' over women who
stay at home to
bring up their children.
The call for mothers to work is made in a 76 page document
from the Women
and Equality Unit which is responsible to Trade Secretary
Paticia Hewitt.
While acknowledging women's working lives increasingly
matched those of men,
it said: 'However, real problems persist. The employment
rates for women
with dependent children have remained consistently below
those of women
without dependent children. Just 48% of women with a child
under two are in
employment, compared to 90% of men with a child under two.'
Sweeping aside the pretence that ministers support full time
mothers who
choose to give up work, the paper says that more men should
be encouraged to
work in childcare and other sectors in which they are 'under
represented'.
Mothers who work, it said, 'benefit the nation by enhancing
competitiveness
and productivity'. And it suggested that mothers who stay at
home are
failing to pay the state back for the cost of their time at
school or
university. Mothers going to work meant 'maximising returns
on public and
private investment in education and training'. It adds that
the government's
aim is 'to ensure all women have the opportunity to play a
full role in the
economic life of the nation'.
The policy brought a furious reaction from industry. The
Institute of
Directors called it 'Orwellian' and 'bullying'. And Jill
Kirby of pressure
group Full Time Mothers also condemned the proposals. 'This
is saying every
mother must have the opportunity to work, but no mother
should have the
opportunity to stay at home.'
The demand that mothers go out to work is the central plank
of the paper,
which is entitled 'Delivering on Gender Equality'.
Miss Hewitt said, 'to make the most of all our talent and
skills, we must
increase economic and civic participation in society by
women.'
The paper sets targets for increasing taxpayer subsidised
childcare places;
burdening industry with more 'flexible working' red tape;
putting more women
into quango posts; and boosting the number of women in top
Civil Service
jobs. it said, ' the position of women in the work place has
improved over
the last few decades, but opportunities for women are still
narrowed by
their caring responsibilities.' There are five reasons why
mothers should
work. Working 'enhances the lifetime incomes and economic
well being of all
women'; it 'maximises personal career development', and
improves 'work/life
balance at all stages of their working life.
To help mothers work, the paper promises 250,000 new
childcare places by
2006. altogether, subsidies to pay for childcare and related
programmes will
reach £1.5 billion a year within two years, it said. It also
condemned
'assumptions about traditional women's work'. To correct
this, men should be
encouraged to work in 'under represented sectors,' and in
particular, in
childcare. It set a new 'diversity' target, saying that by
next year six per
cent of nursery workers, nannies and childminders should be
male.
The Women and Equality Unit, whose director is former
Stonewall gay pressure
group chief Angela Mason, also claimed that 'direct
discrimination' still
exists'. This contradicts its own research published 18
months ago, which
said there is no evidence of discrimination against women at
work, but added
that it is sexist to deny its existence.
Ruth Lea, policy chief at the institute of Directors said:
'This is blatant
social engineering. It is Orwellian - it reeks of Big
Brother.' Though
couched in economic terms it was 'bullying and intolerant'
she added.
Mrs Kirby commented: 'When they are asked, the great
majority of mothers say
they want to give up full time work. many are happy to work
part time, but
not full time. This is target driven interventionist
politics. What they
want to see is women at work and men at home.'
Daily Mail. Friday June 13 2003
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