In line with the post on MEP Licia Ronzulli who has seen her daughter grow up in Parliament and your comments we wonder whether or not it is to reconcile take a child to work. Why do they have to be incompatible to have a child and work? How do we want to make them compatible?
If we look at the etymology of "conciliar", we have that it comes from the Latin 'conciliāre', whose meaning is:
Compose and adjust the spirits of those who opposed each other.
Conform two or more propositions or doctrines apparently contrary.
Both definitions speak of opposites, of opposites, which in the case we are interested in would be motherhood (and fatherhood) and work. The important thing when talking about conciliation is, in my opinion, that there are some more or less universal formulas, but others that are very personal, that will depend on each mother, father and child.
The "universal" reconciliation
There are some bases that, from our point of view, should be met to achieve reconciliation. And among them are not the proposals that eliminate one or the other of the opposites, which do not reconcile them, such as creating daycare centers for endless schedules on one side or leaving work at the other end.
Among the universal formulas that we always defend in Babies and more we place extended maternity leave, ideally (but not as a limit) until six months of the baby, which is the time that the WHO recommends that they be exclusively breastfed. These six months are essential for a fragile baby, who is knowing a strange world and in which his mother is the fundamental figure, an irreplaceable reference and presence.
As for parents, they should also have a mandatory permit that has been shown to help conciliation. In the first days of the newborn, its presence in the family nucleus is basic, and three days are not enough as they had recently or still have in some places.
But for the reconciliation to be complete, during these periods of permission the work of the mother or father should not be jeopardized in any way, neither in the economic one, nor in that of job functions or perspectives. Which, we know, is not always the case even in the conditions of permits that we now have.
On the other hand, once the maternity leave has been exhausted (extendable for leave that will keep your job) we have the issue of working hours. Work schedules should be streamlined and make family life more compatible with work life. If working hours were changed in Spain, the family would win.
The problem, both at this point and in the previous ones, is that Spain does not trust the benefits of work and family conciliation (and the same can be said of many other countries). That is why these conciliation proposals will take time to arrive, but we have to continue claiming them.
Personal reconciliation
What for the MEP has been a way to reconcile may not be for other people, by the characteristics of their work, or by those of their son. In principle, taking your child to a seat where you don't have to talk, just voting seems like a pretty good solution. I would do it, instead of leaving my daughter in a nursery. And I would like more men to do it.
Another thing is that your example can not be generalized, and if until four months you are on maternity leave, it may seem to many that going to your job (with or without your child) is to destroy the rights claimed for conciliation .
But I would like to point out that the case of mothers who go to Parliament with their baby is precisely the opposite, to claim their presence with conciliation, a better conciliation for all.
A different case is the case of the current Vice President of Spain Soraya Sáez de Santamaría, who joined work 11 days after giving birth (without her baby). And we can respect your decision, but I would never call that reconcile.
There are women who reconcile working remunerated from home, there are others who do so by resorting to the family, grandparents, nurseries, reducing working hours ... For some it is impossible to think of a leave of absence, some will get the job opportunity after being unemployed and can not give up, there will be families in which the father takes care of the children ... In short, there are as many cases as families.
In short, and returning to the question we were asking from the title about whether is or is not reconcile take a child to workThe answer is that it is (or would be) for many mothers and fathers, as long as we talk at least six months after delivery), but it is not the solution for many others. Probably, a more acceptable intermediate solution would be that of nurseries at work, a very interesting topic although we cannot generalize either.
