WHEN you have kids, life revolves around school pick-ups, parents evenings and doctors appointments – which is why plenty of companies offer mums flexible hours.
But while this might make things easier for working mums on a day-to-day basis, this so-called “special treatment” can often rub colleagues up the wrong way.
Sydney-based writer Mary Rose Madigan is someone who has witnessed this unfold time and time again.
In a personal essay for Mama Mia, the journalist explained how it’s easy for people to start resenting working with mums when they’re not granted the same flexibility.
She explained: “I don’t begrudge mothers for leaving early or starting late. As far as I’m concerned, workplaces work best when we give people freedom.
“But I think it’s unfair that childless women aren’t given the same freedoms. Instead, our needs are treated as frivolous or negotiable.”
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In her experience of the workplace, Mary argued that professional single women are still being likened to Sex and the City’s heroine Carrie Bradshaw – who famously spent all her cash on $400 Manolo Blahnik heels.
As they don’t have children to rush home to, the writer says people assume their salaries are being spent on designer bags and brunches.
Listing the ways she’d benefit from flexible working hours, she continued: “I have a chronic illness that needs managing, an ageing father who requires support, and sometimes I might just have an STI screening I need to fit in.”
What’s more, the writer says she resents that she feels embarrassed asking for a less traditional working arrangement which would make it easier to look after her dog and pursue hobbies.
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As a result, Mary argued that women’s value is still very much intertwined in whether or not they have kids.
She continued: “If you are a mother, you are seen as a worthy member of society, moulding minds and being a good person.
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“If you’re childless? Well, you’re just young or selfish.”
Previously, Mary explained why she would urge people to ALWAYS have sex on the first date.
