.gif?fit=900%2C671)
For the good of our fair nation, stay-at-home mums, can you please just go back to work already?
Said no-one ever.
Well, that was until today, following the results of a landmark study conducted by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
As reported by the Herald Sun, the study reads: “One of the areas of greatest untapped potential in the Australian labour force is inactive and/or part-time working women, especially those with children.”
“There are potentially large losses to the economy when women stay at home or work short part-time hours.’’
.jpg?resize=380%2C285)
Not only that, but the report states that working is “important for women’s personal wellbeing and perceptions of their overall quality of life”.
Look, we get it: with almost 55 per cent of Australian women being university-educated, compared to 43 per cent of men, our impressive ~skills~ in the workplace are in hot demand.
If only our remuneration packages reflected this statistic. Sigh.
And we understand that, in effect, this study is trying to equalise the workforce playing field so that mums can go back to work, and still maintain a (financially) healthy work-life balance.
But, as Jo Briskey, executive director of The Parenthood – a non-for-profit movement currently campaigning for the federal government to allocate more money for childcare subsidies – explains, this all comes down to one thing: choice.
“It’s very important that woman have the choice,” she says.
“If they want to stay home it’s an incredibly important job looking after kids — not just for the family but to build society.’’
Freelance writer and stay-at-home-mum-of-one Rikki Hodge-Smith wholeheartedly agrees.
“Most of us have been working since we were 14 and paying taxes that whole time,” she says.
“If we need to take time off to raise the next generation so you have someone to change your nappy in the old folks’ home, then that’s how it’s going to fall.”
And the debate continues…
