Each time a mother takes off work to deal with a sick child...?

Question

...somewhere, there is a father who ISN'T having to take off work to deal with a sick child (unless the child's father is dead). Correct?

So..logically speaking, should half the value of all the male productivity that is being reaped because the working mother is shouldering the burden of the childcare be deducted from his wages at the end of the year and put into the mother's 401k or IRA account?

Answer 1

Why don't men never throw hissy fits when things aren't just so?

It's not as if you are being sent overseas to be used as cannon fodder.  

Come on report monkeys.

BTW, that's why people had separate roles, to avoid this sort of mess, if we keep going like this the world will become so clogged up with red tape and legislation it will grind to a halt, like the old Eastern Bloc, and if she is really dedicated to her job and deserving of sitting on a board, she just won't take the time off, she must find a way round it.

Answer 2

So you are saying because women choose to raise children they should be paid more?  So as a man if I decide to take time off to raise my child should I get paid by women?  Sounds like a brilliant plan.

Edit : So this is just a rant, then.

Answer 3

There are couples that this is how this works out....on the IRA stuff...come on...NO.

However yes the father should take time off for the next sick kid day, that time should be split....how hard is that.  Ok I took he/she to the dentist last week..so todays cold is yours.  

Ok TDers...why the thumbs down...I say no to the pay reduction thing, i think fathers are just as capable of taking care of a sick child.  Whats the issue??

Answer 4

Yes.

Im divorced from a dead beat dad, who never  calls or comes visit our child. He pays child support when and how much he wants to.

So when she is sick, he has no care in the world. Im the one out of a work day.

Answer 5

Husband and wife both own family finances.

I also know many men who take time off to help care for people. Not just children, but elderly relatives and friends. Just this week at work one man left to care for his sick child, another left early twice to help and elderly neighbor who is going blind get to the doctor's office, and one women took a day because her mother is in the hospital with heart complications.

Logically speaking, some people see the value in helping others, even if it means losing a few dollars. That's people, both male and female.

Answer 6

For the record, it was always our dad who deal with us when we were sick, but only because he had the car. He never seemed to complain about it.

Anyway, if a couple wants to argue about that, let them; the employers and the bank should stay out of it.

Answer 7

As married partners you already share everything 50:50 anyway.

So why isn't dad taking off from work - or is he just a jerk.

Answer 8

Sounds good to me- and if they really take turns- then there is nothing to transfer!

Answer 9

Realistically families need to come to a decision about who makes more money and who needs to take off in case the child gets sicks

Realistically that issue is one of the reasons they have child support for couples who are no longer together

Answer 10

Why ? He did work he did not take off to tend to the child, why should he not get a compensation for working if it was the mom who took off for the child ? What you suggest sounds very socialist. Yeah sure lets pool together all the money and redistribute, NOT.

Answer 11

This is a decision that a couple needs to deal with before they have children.  Its a shame when we want the employers and/or government to get involved because we can't deal with the fact that this is just one, and a minor one at that, of the issues we must take responsibility for before we procreate.  

I cant imagine the health of my children being seen as such of an inconvenience just because of a few days of missed wages.  It's all about priorities.....

Answer 12

This is a idea.

The first poster obviously dose no have kids and appears a tad bit young to have a clue where you are coming from....

Edit;

first post was deleted.....slow typer here

Though it should be which ever parent makes less, mom or dad. If single/divorced this will be hard. Unless of course the father is a man and takes responsibility as a man should.

Answer 13

The answer is no. I am beginning to see the feminist logic. You are angry about being born female. That explains the whole movement.

Answer 14

"Each time a mother takes off work"?

1. Every time a mother takes time off work

2. Each amount of time a mother takes off work

Are you the real Tracey?

Answer 15

Blah, she's talking about TWO people who decided to raise a child TOGETHER, and ONE parent shouldering all of the burden of taking time off. The father decided to have a kid, too, but women are still presumed to be the one who should take all the time off, thereby hurting her earning potential. Tracey is arguing that the burden should be shared. BOTH, after all, are parents...why should one be "MORE" of a parent?

EDIT-"What's Right?"--The mother is working to pay for the child, too....or did you miss that?

Answer 16

One of the two parents HAS to take care of it, there is no way around it.

The parents just have to work that out among themselves. I do know that my husband's income will benefit me just as much as it does him, so I wouldn't want anyone else putting their hands into it for any reason.

Answer 17

What about men who had to take care of their sick child? I lived this. The mother disapeared when our son got sick. She couldn't "deal with it".

Answer 18

Some of the human race still has a long way to go concerning equal rights...

Answer 19

Good question.

I agree that in the vast majority of cases, it is the mother who takes work off to take care of the kids and I don't care to speculate why.  Women are better caregivers, Dad makes more money, Dad's job is more important, there is not Dad.

I don't know the reason.  I worked nights for a long time with women who would take the night off and their child was at home with Dad.  Didn't make any sense to me.  

Answer 20

If they are married, they share the money, so I don't see the problem.

With divorced couples, the father might and should give some extra money to the kids, but I don't see how he is responsible to pay into the 401k of the mother.

With married couples the father cares, the mother cares more. With divorced couples, the father cares, but the child custody rules might prevent him from watching after the kid. The only fathers that don't care are dead beat dads, the men that run away.  

Answer 21

Most couples I know with kids share this responsibility. If one works closer to home or has a more amenable employer it's probably easier for them to look after the kid.

Answer 22

LOL!..

Women aren't being forced to be the one that have to take time off from work in the first place, it's a choice, so why should they get paid?

EDIT:  Read please... What I meant was there is no laws or acts that forced mother to be the one that have to take time off from work.  It's a choice that the mother make willingly or a decision that a couple made when they have a discussion.

Answer 23

The mother is choosing to be the one to take off, since the father could do it just as well.

If she didn't want to be the one to take off, maybe she should have had a conversation with the dad before deciding to have a baby together.  We all make choices and have to live with the consequences.

Answer 24

To punish him for working to pay for the sick kid?  I always knew your level of genius was off the charts.  You invent entirely new ways of thinking!!!  Incredible.  Pat yourself on the t**t for that one.  Incidentally, my wife and I tag team in this situation.  But I still suppose it's only fair that OUR money be garnished and put into her 401K where we can't access it for the next 30 years because I had the audacity to work to help provide for a sick child when it was her turn to stay home.  That will really benefit us.  It will benefit us as well as creating the need for two income families did.  Thank you and your movement for your genius.  I bow to you and the new world order you've created.

Answer 25

I guess I don't have that problem, my husband and I take turns taking time off of work to take care of the kids when they are sick.

Answer 26

mom's are better at taking care of sick kids!

my dad wouldn't know what to do!

there is nothing more comforting than a mother when a child is sick, she probably stayed home and raised the kid before she went back to work.

some fathers i am sure go home to take care of them, but it seems like a mothers job to me. i always want my mom! my dad is so unsympathetic and always wants me to like mow the grass after i had surgery and what not!

Answer 27

Each couple chooses which one of them will take time off work... it's the mother's choice, she's not forced to do it. Whilst she's looking after the child, the father's working to support them, so they're both contributing to the child's upbringing. I can't see that there's any problem there.

"Shouldering the burden of childcare..."

Most women would be happy to take care of their children; it's a pleasure, not a burden. In fact, if it wasn't for the economic situation, most women would prefer not to be working at all.  

Answer 28

You make a good point.  However, in many cases mothers can take off easier.  Employers are much more forgiving on average with letting women off of work than they are men.  My dad, for instance, basically can't take off work for anything short of someone's death or hospitalization due to the way the company he works at operates.  My mom, in most cases, can simply ask for time off, and if she has leave time, she'll usually get it.  So it's much easier for her to take off.  I know other couples who's job situation matches that as well.

Certainly fathers should be taking off work more to help with kids, but it's not always possible.

Answer 29

Nice.  I like that idea, except some deadbeat dads are probably going to have to be hunted down...

EDIT: kp!

"mom's are better at taking care of sick kids!"

Where are the stats on that?

"my dad wouldn't know what to do!"

YOUR dad wouldn't know what to do.  It doesn't mean that everyone else's father is a bumbling moron.

"there is nothing more comforting than a mother when a child is sick,"

Unless, of course, the mother doesn't know what to do, either.

"she probably stayed home and raised the kid before she went back to work."

Making up stories isn't the way to prove a point.

"some fathers i am sure go home to take care of them, but it seems like a mothers job to me."

Of course it does; you were RAISED that way.  Believe or not, there are a lot of men who have more of a "maternal" instinct than some women do.

"i always want my mom! my dad is so unsympathetic and always wants me to like mow the grass after i had surgery and what not!"

Oh, I see.  Of course you want your mom; your dad is an insensitive clod.  What does that have to do with other people's fathers?  Oh right, nothing.