Should the timing of a family be a purely emotional decision, rather than a financial one.
For Lauren Judge the incentive to hold off on having her next baby is financial.
The successful lawyer and mother-of one told News Limited that her husband was an accountant and he “had done the sums.”
For another successful woman though, the idea of waiting for her much longed for baby is agony.
This yet-to-be-mother can’t imagine anything or anyone holding back her dream of a baby. The idea she might leave it too late and miss out haunts her.
These are two women with very polar opposite ideas of how the timing of the paid parental leave scheme will affect them.
A Galaxy poll for The Sunday Telegraph over the weekend showed that 13% of all women aged 18-44 planned to time their pregnancy around the July 2015 launch of the scheme.
The PPL – a cornerstone of the Abbott Government’s election promises – hopes to deliver up to $50,000 payments plus superannuation for six months’ parental leave.
If the scheme passes the Senate it will kick in in just over a year’s time. The key here though is IF the scheme passes the Senate.
At this stage there is no guarantee that the scheme will pass. Some Coalition Senators have indicated that they will be willing to cross the floor to vote against it, and several key Nationals Senators have spoken out against it.
Clive Palmer, the Palmer United Party leader, has indicated he will support a compromise deal. It’s all very uncertain.
So what does this uncertainly mean to these 570 000 women who are reportedly putting their baby dreams on hold in the hopes of a financial bonanza?
Should finances be a priority in the planning of a family?
Shouldn’t the emotional costs outweigh the monetary ones?
It’s easy to think that surely the decision to have a baby should be about love rather than money but that’s impractical, isn’t it?
This kind of baby planning has happened before. When the baby bonus was first introduced in 2004, and then when it skyrocketed $800 in 2007 to a $5000 payment, many women scheduled their births around receiving the payment.
It was a gamble that paid off for thousands of Australian families.
With the proposed paid parental leave scheme it’s a risk that Lauren Judge is happy to take. She told the Telegraph that she returned to work when her first born was six months old but is now delaying having a second baby till the scheme is in place.
One woman I know who read this article in the weekend papers broke down over her morning cup of tea. She didn’t want me to use her real name but was happy to tell her story.
Her and her partner have tried countless rounds of IVF, endless cycles of waiting, hoping, dreaming and crying.
She says that nothing could make her entertain the idea of waiting for a baby. “It’s selfish to wait,” she says. “ Having a baby should be about being a Mum, not making money."
Obviously this woman has the financial means to support IVF and she doesn’t deny the fact that some families are struggling.
“If they can’t afford a baby now why have one?” she says.
It’s a delicate issue and one with opinions on both sides.
What can’t be denied though is the fact that if this poll is correct, 2015 will be a big year for babies. Just imagine the childcare waiting lists...
Would you try to put off having your next baby until the PPL is in place?
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