Janet Collins
Billy MProsperity, Jobs and Babies
May 12th 2008 04:26
I can hardly read a paper or listen to a news radio station or a politician speaking where they don’t mention “family values”, “paid maternity leave” or “working families”. What apparently has dropped from the “words to use” list is “prosperity” – a word I heard over and over again only last year.
Why is this? There are still lots of millionaire homes around, lots of expensive cars on the road and many of the expensive private schools are doing massive extensions to accommodate more and more students whose families are willing and able to pay handsome amounts for their education.
There has of course been the interest rate rises and escalating petrol prices but if we were all as prosperous as what we were being told, this would not have affected our lifestyle much at all. In reality though, prosperity for many came at the significant cost of many others. If we can rely on the statistics, the growth in casual labour during the last two decades has left more than one quarter of our workforce in casual jobs. Casual work can be unreliable, inconsistent and has none of the ordinary benefits of full time employment such as sick pay, holiday pay and in most cases superannuation.
The principal reason for going to work in the first place is to clothe and feed yourself and, if you have one, your family. Work can also provide other things of course such as social interaction, purpose and personal development. Nevertheless, if work does not provide the means for the very basics and offer some level of security then life can become very difficult indeed.
The current push by many female politicians to have maternity leave extended as well as made compulsory is commendable. What is not talked about in their argument is the significant amount of women, particularly those in casual employment, who will again miss out on yet another benefit enjoyed by their salaried sisters. Many of them are still searching for their piece of the prosperity and some means of having a family friendly lifestyle.
Why is this? There are still lots of millionaire homes around, lots of expensive cars on the road and many of the expensive private schools are doing massive extensions to accommodate more and more students whose families are willing and able to pay handsome amounts for their education.
The principal reason for going to work in the first place is to clothe and feed yourself and, if you have one, your family. Work can also provide other things of course such as social interaction, purpose and personal development. Nevertheless, if work does not provide the means for the very basics and offer some level of security then life can become very difficult indeed.
The current push by many female politicians to have maternity leave extended as well as made compulsory is commendable. What is not talked about in their argument is the significant amount of women, particularly those in casual employment, who will again miss out on yet another benefit enjoyed by their salaried sisters. Many of them are still searching for their piece of the prosperity and some means of having a family friendly lifestyle.
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