BigDavyG

Go Colts

Leslie

Part of the problem with that remark is that I pay a lot of my income into state and federal taxes - if a program is funded by these taxes I feel no guilt in using them if I happen to qualify. That is what they are there for and that is what my hard work helps to fund. It may not be a nice thing to say but .... I'd rather see a working person such as myself benefit from government programs than somebody who has never worked and has no intention of ever working.

Irn-bru

*stand up and applause smilie*

Englishmum

On that basis I would assume that if you were living back in the UK and had a child, you wouldn't claim Child Benefit?

Englishmum

Well **** you too. :curse:

BritGuyTN

I would never think of that - I think a lot of people read between the lines and came up with something that doesn't exist.

Being a stay at home mum from what I can see is far from stress free, but given the personal choice between looking after a couple of sprogs compared to working a 60 hour week (plus commute plus out of state travel (friends of mine)), then I would think the reality is that the company-employed person is under a lot more pressure

Sally

Both parents working can be even more stressful.

BritGuyTN

wow, speaking as someone who left home at 17 with nothing, one thing I can't be accused of is living in a fantasy world - I want to be able to give (in moderation) my children the opportunities I never had the chance of.

what would your opinion be if I told me wife I wanted to be the stay at home dad and she would be the one getting home after kids have gone to bed etc...

BigDavyG

I wouldn't put myself in a situation where I knew I would had to rely on Child Benefit, or an employer's help that's for sure.
That's pretty much all I've said throughout this thread - what's wrong with that ???

AmerLisa

Uuummmm, yeah right..... FFS, will people that DON'T have kids, nor worked having said kids, at home, just quit deciding they know what the heck they're talking about.

BritGuyTN

Totally agree

which is one reason why my wife came up with the idea of us both working a 4 day overlap week

both parties working at 80% has got to be better for the family life as a whole than one working at 150% and one workig at 70%? I'm basing those percentages on my 'case study friends' where he has a middle-upper management job at a a fortune 500 company (just was hospitalised because of a stress related chest condition) and she looks after a 3 year old and a 5 year old full time.

TouristTrap

Why don't YOU try it for a few years and see how easy it is? I wonder where people get the idea that it is so easy, especially if you're an intelligent A-Type personality who all of a sudden is stuck in the domestic front coping with all that goes with looking after sprogs.

There are MANY days when I hark back to the halycon days when I buggered out of the house, into my car, all dressed up to the nines in my expensive boutique clothing, and sat working at my desk for 10 or 12 hours a day........ Being a SAHM/D might seem glamorous - but it is far from so - it is a real sacrifice.

I quit and worked from home for the years that the sprogs were small. I was lucky I was able to. My dh and I started a business when we were in our 20's and I was able to run it until it was viable enough for him to quit his job and take over. I was lucky. Many don't have such a choice. They have to work to make ends meet and not everyone has an IQ of 120 whereby they're able to educate themselves further. The majority of the world's population isn't that fortunate. Should they not be allowed to procreate?

Should we have a 'nazi' system of child-bearing? Only reproduce if you can stay home with your child? Most working mothers go through a tremendous amount of angst as it is without having asshole bosses freak out on them for something that is natural and perfectly normal.

Do us a favor. Grow up.

BritGuyTN

do you have personal experience on the flip side - i.e. having a high-powered job working for an american corp where they want a pound of flesh and where you boss gives you lectures about working less than 60 hour weeks?

if you do have experience of both, fine, but if not then you also (by your own measure) have no clue what you are talking about. Just presenting the flip side.

BigDavyG

Haha - just when you think some of these replies can't get any more hysterical someone brings the 'n-word' into it - brilliant

Irn-bru

It was in quotes and you know what she means