The Prime Minister of New Zealand is pregnant

Warrigal

Warrigal

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Sydney, Australia
Warrigal said:
.....When I was a girl such a thing was unheard of. This is a great day for young girls in New Zealand and other countries.....
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I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. I am not so 'conservative' that I have a moral/ethical issue with unmarried women having children. But I don't want any encouragement of this as unmarried moms, as a whole, do very poorly in the long run. They don't finish school, don't acquire skills to allow them to get decent jobs, etc.
So no, not great for 'young girls' who see this and think they can make it on their own thinking that the PM is some kind of role model.
 
Warrigal said:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford have announced that they are expecting a baby in July. She will take six weeks leave during which the Deputy PM will take over her role.

When I was a girl such a thing was unheard of. This is a great day for young girls in New Zealand and other countries.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-19/nz-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-announces-pregnancy/9342642
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I agree with you Warrigal. This is the first I've heard of a PM being pregnant.
 

retiredtraveler said:
I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. I am not so 'conservative' that I have a moral/ethical issue with unmarried women having children. But I don't want any encouragement of this as unmarried moms, as a whole, do very poorly in the long run. They don't finish school, don't acquire skills to allow them to get decent jobs, etc.
So no, not great for 'young girls' who see this and think they can make it on their own thinking that the PM is some kind of role model.
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I wasn't actually thinking about her being unmarried and pregnant. This is no longer the big no no that it was when I was a girl although there were unmarried mothers around. No-one wanted to be caught like that. Today it is often a couple's choice to have the kids first, then save up for the fancy wedding with the children part of the wedding party. That genie is out of the bottle and won't be returning any time soon.

What I meant was it was unheard of for a woman to become prime minister at all, much less one who was having a baby. In most professions the expectation was a young woman had to choose between marriage and children, and a career. Anything else was quite exceptional. Only very rich women who could afford nannies were able to combine motherhood and a serious career. At the lower echelons poor women often had to earn what they could by taking in ironing or by cleaning schools etc

Men, on the other hand could always combine career and domesticity.
 
Warrigal said:
I wasn't actually thinking about her being unmarried and pregnant. This is no longer the big no no that it was when I was a girl although there were unmarried mothers around. No-one wanted to be caught like that. Today it is often a couple's choice to have the kids first, then save up for the fancy wedding with the children part of the wedding party. That genie is out of the bottle and won't be returning any time soon.

What I meant was it was unheard of for a woman to become prime minister at all, much less one who was having a baby. In most professions the expectation was a young woman had to choose between marriage and children, and a career. Anything else was quite exceptional. Only very rich women who could afford nannies were able to combine motherhood and a serious career. At the lower echelons poor women often had to earn what they could by taking in ironing or by cleaning schools etc

Men, on the other hand could always combine career and domesticity.
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Men could do it because they left the 'domesticity' part to their wives.

More power to her, but I can't imagine combining something as demanding as being Prime Minister with taking care of a baby. The articles I've read say her partner is going to be househusband; that can work if he actually does it. They are probably able to hire good nannies and other care-givers so they should be okay. I can't imagine how it will work with her phone ringing at all hours and the emergencies that are inherent in her job, but maybe she can establish some boundaries that will work at least most of the time. I hope she has good staff because she's going to need them.

It's the women who can't afford any kind of help who end up hitting the wall and giving up their dreams because they are mothers.

It's a fact that professional women who have babies generally derail their careers that never get back on track, especially when they opt to take extended maternity leave. I worked in a law firm where four of women lawyers were either partnered with or married to men who opted to step away from their careers or take generous parental leaves offered by their companies. Along with help from nannies or family members, the four men were primary care-givers so the women could go back to work as soon as they were medically cleared. One of the men had a business attached to their home so he was able to see clients while a part-time nanny watched the child.

They all did well and all four couples had more children under the same arrangements, but those were all special men and the couples made some special circumstances work for them.
 
I'm not sure I like the idea of the PM taking six weeks leave and turning the operation of the government over to someone else.

IMO a person in the position of PM should be able to summon the resources to stay in control and do the job that they were elected to do.

I guess I need to ponder this one for a little bit.
 
In the New Zealand and Australian system, as in the Westminster system, the Prime Minister is but the first of many equals. There is a cabinet system of seasoned elected ministers and the Deputy Prime Minister is always in charge when the PM is out of the country or incapacitated.

In the case of NZ right now, the government is a coalition of two parties and the Deputy PM is the leader of the minority party and he is quite capable of leadership while Jacinda is on leave.
 
Warrigal said:
.....In the case of NZ right now, the government is a coalition of two parties and the Deputy PM is the leader of the minority party and he is quite capable of leadership while Jacinda is on leave.
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Isn't the deputy pm a man? Think of how he could mess the country up in 6 weeks! :)
 
Even if the baby is born with blue eyes I just want to go on record and say that I've never been to New Zealand. :playful:
 

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