In article ,
"Barbara" wrote:

Chookie wrote:
In article ,
len garden wrote:

rearing children is a family matter prinarily and community/society
matter secondary, we seem to be putting all our eggs into the
secondary basket.

I'd disagree with that. Try going in to Sydney CBD with a 2yo in a
stroller. You find out exactly how much time hasn't been devoted to
making it easy to get round. At least DS2 will be out of his
stroller in a year or two. If I were a wheelchair person, I'd be out
the front of the Town Hall with a placard. And if our society is so
child-friendly, where's the decent maternity leave (to hark back to
another thread), and the jobs that allow you to pick the kids up from
school?

Getting off my soapbox before things get out of control...

OK I will admit I came in late and can't be bothered going back through all
the posts but...
Why do you think employers should bear the cost of work place disruption,
that maternity leave causes, ditto with allowing people to knock off work to
pick up the kids?

What's wrong with shifting hours (where possible) so that people can
pick up their kids? There are plenty of jobs out there where it would
be completely feasible for folks to start work at 7am and stop at 3pm so
they can go pick their kids up from school. In fact, I wouldn't be
surprised if people got more work done if the working day was staggered
so everyone didn't start and finish at the same time. I bet there'd be
a lot of people (including those who don't have kids) who would like a
staggered start/end time option for their jobs.

eggs.