chavvys.......
see and I was sooooo careful not to use that word - but yeah, you got it!
'MON THE PRIMARK, by the way!
Much cheapness for baby clothes and slouchy house attire!
Perhaps hospitals should have a standard no fee parking, rather than all hospitals being different, and special rates at canteens?
Across Scotland, all NHS hospitals have free parking now, with the exception of those PFI/PPP hospitals which have prior agreements with those who built and funded the hospitals. They have been told to reduce costs though. ERI used to be over a tenner a day and now (I think) it is cheaper than that.
the worlds not fair, seriously!
Yeah. Sucks doesn't it. But life aint fair and at least we can congratulate ourselves on our achievements and have pride. We can also be sure our children will know the value of hard work and responsibility, rather than their only achievement being managing to master the benefits system.
(No mean feat BTW. I often think if those people applied themselves they'd actually do quite well in business)
While I think it must be finacially (and otherwise) draining to have a premature/sick baby, I do think more planning should be undertaken by everyone when considering having a baby. I know most people don't think about the worse case scenarios, and I think more people should think about how they'd cope if they couldn't return to work etc.
This may be a little unfair. We did plan. I spent the first 3 years of our married life, as we were trying for a child, scrimping and saving every penny as well as taking on additional work, doing overtime and looking at our finances to see where we could cut back. I made sure we could afford to drop one salary for at least a year and we spent frugally in buying stuff for Abby (with the exception of a rather snazzy M&P highchair we paid waaaaay more than we needed to
) We didn't splash out on the best of everything.
We've been lucky that we both still have a job. If Mr Foo had been made redundant, we would have struggled. We would have coped and I would have gone back to work sooner, but sometimes external forces outwith a person's control can throw even the best planning out of the window. The fact Abby was 11 weeks early has turned what would have been a fairly comfortable year into one where we have to think twice because 12 months has become 15. We will manage because we have planned, but that doesn't mean we couldn't do with a little help. Thankfully I've been able to get some bonus money, claiming things back off BUPA that I hadn't known I was entitled to, a nice wee tax rebate came along too.
Many women eat soft cheeses, drink small amounts of alcohol, take medications for morning sickness, all with risk. Drug/alcohol abuse might have much more awful consequences, but some would argue it isn't a choice, and isn't done out of malice, or ever lack of care. Until you've lived with addiction, it is hard to understand the guilt, shame, pain and remorse someone feels. I wouldn't withdraw or limit money because of addiction.
I guess this is the same argument about where you draw the line with treatment on the NHS. Smokers, drinkers and the overweight are the usual targets. It is a slippery slope if care is dependent on your lifestyle (other than for sound medical reasons) I suppose the same should be true of benefits. However, there does seem to be an avalanche effect where if you are entitled to one, it triggers a whole other raft of benefits. But if you don't, you get nothing. Changing the system to allow those who could do with a little help can access a separate set of benefits would be good. Your average addict would be unlikely to be in that group.
Does the parental leave scheme apply? Perhaps the four week unpaid leave someone can take could be increased.
It does, but as with all these, how flexible your employer is about taking it is a hit or a miss. It was never designed to be taken as a block of leave
How about paternity leave? The dads normally need a short period of leave when the baby is born, to support the Mum and possibly look after other children while Mum is in hospital. But then they should perhaps get a second normal period of leave when a preemie baby comes home from SCBU.
Mr Foo's employer has been brilliant. He does do flexitime anyway, but there are core hours where he must be in the office. He was allowed to disregard the core hours so that he could be at home early enough in the day to take me to the hospital. He was also given a heap of compassionate leave. Basically for a period of about 3 months (since I had been in hospital at 26 weeks) he could come and go as he pleased and they were happy with it. As an IT manager he was able to work alot from home too.
I believe they are looking at changing the system to give couples parental leave and it is up to them to choose how they use it. This system is in place in Sweden and it works really well. Of course, employers are complaining about that too
