Childfree by choice #6 Sleeping well at night, petition for childfree flights

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

My current place isn't too bad either but there is still a slightly subtle undertone of favouritism towards parents.

Ive mentioned it before I think on here, but I take my leave at times of year when it's often cheaper to travel, like many childfree folk. Our company workload naturally slows for certain periods due to lots of parents time off ie Easter, mid July. My boss went off on one once about how I wasn't taking my leave at 'normal' times of year like 'everyone else' . Thankfully nothing else ever came of it but it made me self conscious for a bit about booking for example, 2 weeks off in September or January.

What a ridiculous thing for them to complain about.

I always take holidays September, October & occasionally May or early June and it’s always outside of school holidays!

Why would I go away in school holidays when I don’t have a reason to? It would cost me more money, the place I’m going to would be rammed with kids and the uk roads & airports would be mental.

 

[HoGi]

I’m going to go against the grain here and say that the 9 months of maternity leave isn’t really all that much of a perk.
Okay so you do get to be off work full pay for 9 months, big perk and see where people are coming from, but when you come back to work you’re basically just working to put your kid in nursery, unless you’re lucky enough to have family willing to help out.
Now I know people are going to say “well you chose to have a child” but realistically, 9 months of work full pay to then end up with less money and still working is not a decent trade off for me. I’d rather be in work and have my money to spend, also be able to use my annual leave for me and not have to keep it for school holidays

I wish maternity was full pay for 9 months. Unless you have a very generous employer you're looking at a month to 6 weeks full pay tops. Then 50% pay for a few months then stat which is £143 a week or similar.

It's one of the main reasons I have chosen to be child free i can't afford to have a child despite having an above average salary.

 

[peachesandcreamz]

I wish maternity was full pay for 9 months. Unless you have a very generous employer you're looking at a month to 6 weeks full pay tops. Then 50% pay for a few months then stat which is £143 a week or similar.

It's one of the main reasons I have chosen to be child free i can't afford to have a child despite having an above average salary.

My company offer full pay for 6 months, then it drops to half! I work in finance so lots of very generous benefits.

 

[shadowcat5]

I wish maternity was full pay for 9 months. Unless you have a very generous employer you're looking at a month to 6 weeks full pay tops. Then 50% pay for a few months then stat which is £143 a week or similar.

It's one of the main reasons I have chosen to be child free i can't afford to have a child despite having an above average salary.

tbh I have no idea what it is but honestly that sounds worse. Why are people doing that? Either people don’t know it’s that bad, want children that badly or it’s accidental pregnancies but nothing about it sounds like an advantage

 

[JoeBloggs]

My company offer full pay for 6 months, then it drops to half! I work in finance so lots of very generous benefits.

I know lots of companies who offer the same, some with an even better packages.

 

[sushimama]

I'm not from the UK and we have 1 year of full pay but our birth rate is still declining haha.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

I wonder how they'll fund the pension if no one's prepared to have children? They'll probably get rid of it - any excuse.

 

[pinkmug]

I have felt shamed telling people and generally I say nothing and people assume I work full time. I’m not sure if even some of my closest friend know. I do take on more house work but even working 4 days I earn more than my husband so
I have been lucky that I have never needed to work full time since graduating. I do also do ‘side hussels’ to have other income.

Good for you! I don't have a particular skill set that'll allow me to work like this at the moment but if I did, I'd go for it in a heart beat. I think it's fab, especially if you don't have a need for more hours/income.

 

[JoeBloggs]

I wonder how they'll fund the pension if no one's prepared to have children? They'll probably get rid of it - any excuse.

There will be no pension in years to come, they already want to raise it to 70.

 

[Anne1448]

I wonder how they'll fund the pension if no one's prepared to have children? They'll probably get rid of it - any excuse.

France is trying to solve this by having more immigrants. Especially young people.

Since immigrants usually cannot afford to go back to school to get a degree which is in line with the highest paid jobs they are more likely to accept low paid jobs. It's a way for the French government to get a ton of workers who pay for the pensions of the older population.

 

[JoeBloggs]

I’m fed up of people treating the cost of childcare the same as bills in terms of their outgoings. You have chosen to have a child therefore you have to accept what that entails and for the most part that is money.

Your £1,400 bill is not my issue.

 

[judgejohndeed]

I think maternity pay is important purely from a women's equality perspective - and ultimately people are always going to have kids, and men don't have to take a year out of work, so while it's a choice there is still an unequal burden on mothers compared with fathers. However for me it should end once someone goes back to work, what annoys me is how having children is seen as some kind of moral good and parents are forever taking the piss at work/prioritised over people who didn't make the choice to have children. I would be really pro having both anti discrimination for parents i.e. you can't be sacked for being pregnant etc, and also have anti discrimination for childfree i.e. you can't be forced to work Christmas 12 years in a row 'because parents'. This could definitely mutually exist in our legal framework.

I’m fed up of people treating the cost of childcare the same as bills in terms of their outgoings. You have chosen to have a child therefore you have to accept what that entails and for the most part that is money.

Your £1,400 bill is not my issue.

Yeah it's like when people pay a similar amount for doggie daycare also said it before but I'll say it again - children are tiny human beings and you're paying for someone to take care of your kid all day and ensure he/she is you know, surviving - why do people expect that to be cheap?!

 

[Jane Porcupine]

I

I think maternity pay is important purely from a women's equality perspective - and ultimately people are always going to have kids, and men don't have to take a year out of work, so while it's a choice there is still an unequal burden on mothers compared with fathers. However for me it should end once someone goes back to work, what annoys me is how having children is seen as some kind of moral good and parents are forever taking the piss at work/prioritised over people who didn't make the choice to have children. I would be really pro having both anti discrimination for parents i.e. you can't be sacked for being pregnant etc, and also have anti discrimination for childfree i.e. you can't be forced to work Christmas 12 years in a row 'because parents'. This could definitely mutually exist in our legal framework.

I agree. My company has now introduced 'carers leave' instead of parental leave for emergencies so it can be used by anyone with caring responsibilities (and it includes spouses/partners). I think it's a step in the right direction as it at least acknowledges that kids aren't the only important committment in people's lives.

I would like to see more companies offering longer protected time off similar to mat leave but offered to everyone, like a sabbatical and actually encouraging people to use it or letting them know it's there.

 

[JoeBloggs]

I


I agree. My company has now introduced 'carers leave' instead of parental leave for emergencies so it can be used by anyone with caring responsibilities (and it includes spouses/partners). I think it's a step in the right direction as it at least acknowledges that kids aren't the only important committment in people's lives.

I would like to see more companies offering longer protected time off similar to mat leave but offered to everyone, like a sabbatical and actually encouraging people to use it or letting them know it's there.

Careers leave is such a good idea, so many people care for others that are not children. Even if you pet needs to have an op, they are still family.

 

[mcfeez]

Yeah it's like when people pay a similar amount for doggie daycare also said it before but I'll say it again - children are tiny human beings and you're paying for someone to take care of your kid all day and ensure he/she is you know, surviving - why do people expect that to be cheap?!

People say stay at home parenting is a full time job but then complain about paying adequately for someone to do it as a full time job.

 

[Millais]

Instagram keeps pushing ‘boy mom’ videos into my feed. The latest is a montage of some basic witch’s CraZY LiL GuYy doing boy things like…running across a pool cover and playing in a washing machine with the door closed what is wrong with these breeders when “I’m actively encouraging my child to kill himself in an entirely avoidable household accident!” is a personality trait?! Do they really have so little excitement in their lives that “My baby boy’s aesthetic funeral!” is all they can aim for in life?! Half the comments were people asking her what the hell she was playing at, the other half were Boy Moms telling them they were being rude for being concerned for the welfare of a toddler in a washing machine.

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

Instagram keeps pushing ‘boy mom’ videos into my feed. The latest is a montage of some basic witch’s CraZY LiL GuYy doing boy things like…running across a pool cover and playing in a washing machine with the door closed what is wrong with these breeders when “I’m actively encouraging my child to kill himself in an entirely avoidable household accident!” is a personality trait?! Do they really have so little excitement in their lives that “My baby boy’s aesthetic funeral!” is all they can aim for in life?! Half the comments were people asking her what the hell she was playing at, the other half were Boy Moms telling them they were being rude for being concerned for the welfare of a toddler in a washing machine.

I once commented on a post of a little boy playing in a tumble dryer. I just said it’s not best to encourage it incase he does when you aren’t there and he gets shut in and suffocates. The amount of abuse she gave me was unreal. I’ve never bothered since.

Some people are just plain stupid. I do think social media has really encouraged a lot of bad parenting. People filming cruel things they are doing to their children all for likes and if you call them out they’ll claim it isn’t cruel and it’s probably become normal to them because of tik tok!

I don’t want children obviously and if I’m honest, a lot of kids do annoy me, BUT I cannot stand kids being treated badly, it makes me so angry and upset seeing kids being treated with cruelty.

 

[littlewonder]

Just saw a TikTok of a mum coming downstairs on Christmas Day 2020 and the kids had already unwrapped EVERYTHING on their own, even their other siblings presents, paper and toys everywhere and going ‘mum look what I got’

honestly I’ve never wanted kids but those sorts of videos just remind me why!

 

[Tabitha]

Haha this got me

 

[pinkmug]

The lady looks fresh af, I need her skincare routine

I don’t want children obviously and if I’m honest, a lot of kids do annoy me, BUT I cannot stand kids being treated badly, it makes me so angry and upset seeing kids being treated with cruelty.

I couldn't agree more, just because I don't want/have kids doesn't mean it's not obvious to me when someone is being a tit parent. Obviously a lot of child raising is making it up as you go depending on the child's needs but since when using your kid to chase likes and cash on the internet is good parenting?? Cannot stand family vloggerse either, anyone who uses a child under the age of 16 in their 'content' should be fined imo. The world is already full of creeps, why do some people feel comfortable basically handing out personal details of their child to strangers online, I'll never know. Imagine having no anonymity because your mum or dad livestreamed every crappy diaper you've had since you started breathing. It boils my blood.