As the coalition government brings in new rules allowing shared parental leave, and the Lib Dems propose extensions on that, the Daily Mail outlines the health benefits:
How paid parental leave helps your baby: Children with a stay-at-home parent are less likely to develop asthma and hearing problems … and the health benefits last for SEVEN years
- A baby is more likely to become a healthy child with paid parental leave
- If a parent stays at home with paid leave for baby’s first months, the child is less likely to develop health issues, including asthma and hearing problems
- A seven year study followed the health of more than a thousand babies
- Paid leave has the greatest impact on health of babies in families with a lower socio-economic status
- Parents are likely to stay at home and breastfeed their baby for longer
- Government-funded leave’s more beneficial than workplace-funded leave
I think the key words here are Government funded. Businesses of all sizes have enough burdens as it is, but then again why should the rest of us fund a lifestyle choice. If you can’t afford to stay home and look after your baby then don’t have it to start with. This island is already overcrowded, a cut in the birth rate would remove pressure on schools and the NHS
Christine, you and I are swimming against the tide. This country is full of people who have kids and then expect other tax payers to fund their lifestyle choice as a matter of right.
Oz, for most people I know the world of work has changed a lot over the last 15 years or so. Working couples who want to have children need all the luck they can get these days.
Indigenous birth rate has been falling for some time , immigrant birth rate has been increasing for some time – just an observation !!!.
For luck you mean other tax payers funding their choice of lifestyle ?