labour promises increase for children!

Cuppatea - that wasnt meant to sound like it was aimed at your comment, sorry if it did!! I was still in my 'ideal' land not 'practical' land.

I might be a little wound up about it as i had to stop work at 30 weeks (my job as a chef demands 14hr workdays on my feet, only getting a break if i'm lucky, lifting heavy things, ridiculous hot temps, no time to eat or drink etc etc) and bubs wasnt growing enough so i stopped early and will now only have 4 - 5 weeks after he's born paid leave.

Obv its my choice to have work in such a crappy industry but i do wish i had more of a package parental leave wise. No idea how that could be improved with fairness to all though.

i agree P.P.L should be closer to your wages .. unsure how it would work but $700 a fortnight doesn't go far even less for people with student loans etc!!
im back working parttime (which was always planned and i love my job!) but i would have gone back later had p.p.l been a little more or even for longer .....
me and dp are youngish (22 and 25) and our dd was not planned to come so soon but i personally think nine months is more then enough time to collect stuff for a baby at costs you can afford eg $800 pram or $200 pram ..
we also arent entiled to ANY income suppluments (wff, accom, childcare) even if i didnt go back to work .. i think the cut off for one child is $72,000.00 which really isn't alot by the time you pay morg or rent, phone, power, food, petrol, insurance etc etc.
i personally don't expect the gov to pay me $$ to bring up my child we chose to have a baby we chose to cover the costs up until they get a job as such or many years after that!!!! BUT think there should be more support for middle income earners ..... seems to be for lower income earners and high high earners don't need it but those making by on a average wage should be entitled to something

I agree that if you choose to have a baby then you choose to support it. A surprise baby is a little different but I dont think it should become "I didnt want it so therefore the govt should support me" kind of attitude. Thats how we end up with generational social welfare issues. I find it sad when I see and hear people expecting the tax payer/govt to fund their family and children.

However I do think that PPL should be for longer i.e. 6 months (or more), particularly to promote longer breastfeeding etc. Even at min wage, something is better than nothing.
And I also think that there should be more incentive for woman to re-enter the workforce i.e. better subsidised child care before the age of 3 years old, employers having onsite childcare or even employers allowing you to bring children to work if they cant go to DC but arent that sick IYGWIM.

Freckle I was the same with my oldest, we werent entitled to any govt assistance (back then the max earnings for one child was all of 35K!!) AND he was very much a surprise baby, we had huge debts to pay off, so we managed by buying cheap 2nd hand stuff, and accepting any hand-me-downs and gifts. The only thing I bought new for him for most of that first year was a tracksuit when we went camping at 3 months old!.

Unfortunately even with planned babies, there are circumstances that you just cant foresee that can affect your financial security. And at times like that, its a blessing to be able to use the govt assistance available to make up some of the shortfall. Just because you can afford a baby NOW, doesnt necessarily mean in 9 months time you will still be just as stable financially.

I had every intention of going back to work after having Jae, but after doing a lot of number crunching, it worked out no better off me going back to work (and losing all entitlements in the process) than if I were to stay at home and accept the $ that the govt provides for the kids I have. I certainly didnt PLAN to do it that way when we tried for her, right through the time we were TTCing, and during my pregnancy I was only planning on taking the 14 weeks paid as I thought we couldnt afford any other way.

This time around I thought we would be able to manage easily, but a lot of things have come up since I got preg that mean for every step forward we take financially, we keep falling back 2 more, and we never seem to get ahead.

Good grief, I've been sitting here, thinking "now, I had a surprise pregnancy and I managed to have everything I needed for my child " and for the life of me I can not remember how......it must be because im 29, 30 next year, clearly, the old age is setting in.......

I was on the DPB for a few months after she was born,to pay rent etc,then I went back to work parttime and was working full time by the time she was a year.....but for the life of me I can't remember where I got the cot etc maybe it was handed down?
Poor me, poor me and my bad memory ...

my dp doesnt understand why I like being at work he wanted me too be home fulltime .. but I couldn't handle it i enjoy the people contact and for a few hours a week not being "mum" iykwim.
when we found out we were expecting we changed our lifestyle ....... no more expensive dresses that get worn once for me or flashy high heels! .. i even stoped wearing makeup everyday because I didnt want to buy fondation as often and wasnt prepared to change brands! and dp traded his 'baby' fast car for a suitable family car! we also had already planned an overseas holiday but insted off spending as much on ourselfs we came home with lots of goodies for baby!
i have seen many of my friends not prepared to change lifestyle, quit jobs because they felt 'sick', go on the dpb even tho they are still with the dad ....... and they bag me for been back at work and oh how my 'baby has all the fancy things'.

i agree bowie a baby bonus would be great and careful management would allow alot of people more time off work but as you said people would most likely abuse it