Returning to work after parental leave can feel loaded: aside from logistics there are misconceptions, assumptions and worries. These are a few of the myths that we regularly hear from parental leave …
How Medibank upped the game on paid parental leave
Medibank introduced its new FamilyFlex policy to mark International Women’s Day earlier this year, offering all eligible parents 14 weeks paid parental leave regardless of whether they are the p…
‘I am doing everything & you need to do more’: A universal household dispute?
Last week I was typing away in a cafe not far from my home when a small group of mothers and their babies arrived and sat at the next table. They nursed their infants, sipped coffee and shared notes a…
The power of men talking about managing fatherhood & work
The contrast couldn’t have been more stark and I couldn’t have been more grateful. While Canberra was imploding yesterday I had the privilege of immersing myself in one of the most emotion…
It’s time to radically reimagine the role of fathers in workplaces & homes
With little fanfare, a rather special event took place in Canberra last week on the subject of fatherhood. Liana Leach at The ANU, and Amanda Cooklin at La Trobe University, quietly co-hosted a one-da…
The workplace where Dads & secondary carers get 14 weeks paid leave
Medibank has issued a challenge to corporate Australia with their policy offering 14 weeks paid leave to all parents, regardless of whether they’re the primary or secondary carer. That 14 weeks …
When feminists don’t want to ‘work anymore’? The case for dads doing more is clear.
“I’m a feminist and I don’t want to work anymore,” the headline read. Of course I clicked through. I devoured every word of Polly Dunning’s essay on realising that even as a ‘third generation card-car…
The trouble with the minister promoting shared parental leave…who can’t access shared parental leave
As the UK’s Business Minister Andrew Griffiths has been promoting shared parental leave through the government’s ‘Share the Joy‘ campaign. Parents in Britain are entitled to sh…
It’s not good enough to accuse fathers of being uninterested shirkers
Yesterday the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) released a report that shows just 4 percent of fathers in two parent families are stay at home dads, compared to 31 percent of mums. It also…
Having kids is not the same as buying a flat screen TV
It has always surprised me to hear children referred to as though they are some kind of consumer product or accessory. Or the way parenthood is framed as a ‘lifestyle decision’ rather than…
