Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!orion.oac.uci.edu!ucivax!gateway From: turpin@cs.utexas.EDU (Russell Turpin) Newsgroups: soc.feminism Subject: Re: Child making and rearing Summary: The real interested groups are not men vs women, but parents vs non-parents. Message-ID: <10848@cs.utexas.edu> Date: 4 Aug 90 02:45:59 GMT References: Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas Lines: 33 Approved: tittle@ics.uci.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: zola.ics.uci.edu ----- In article , kfletche@sun222.nas.nasa.gov (Katherine E. Fletcher) writes: > I would like to use this as a starting point for a discussion > about the economy of child making and rearing. What if the cost > of these two things had to be borne completely equally by both > partners in the conception. ... So that the male had to pay half > of the women's lost salary due to pregnancy, half of the actual > medical costs, and both people had to share equally the cost of > lost work time due to child rearing errands - sick kiddo's, school > chauffering etc. How would this impact on employer/employee > relations and agreements? > > Both men and women would have equal incentive to lobby for parental > leave, pregnancy leave, and insurance that supports the needs of > parents. ... You have a valid point. Child-care benefits, pregancy leave, and other parental expenses borne by employers do not really divide men and women. Parents are the ones who benefit from these, and non-parents are the ones who will collectively pay. In our society, more women than men are de facto parents, due to single women bearing children away from the father, and preferential custody decisions for women. Your point remains (and does not depend on an equal division of labor or cost between parents): these benefits are not really a man vs woman issue, but a parent vs non-parent issue. What has yet to be explained is why parenting requires more subsidization in this society. Do we have too few children? Do parents feel that the material sacrifices of parenting are too great for the rewards of this choice? Russell