Funny how some ideas sound good at first and then are shown to be self-defeating. Take maternity leave, for example

You would think that having time off to look after a baby would be good idea. Having paid time off would be even better. But actually it has been shown to be a negative for women because now employers are reluctant to hire women who may need paid maternity leave.

I sympathise with employers, especially those who run small businesses and who can’t afford to keep jobs open and even pay for their female employees to stay home for a year.

I have written about this subject before but it’s worth repeating because, Nicola Brewer, the chief Executive of the Equities and Human Rights Commission in Britain, says that taking a year off and being paid for it was “making employers think twice before offering women a job or promotion.”

Her argument is that this problem could be solved if fathers could receive maternity leave as well. At the moment, fathers are allowed two weeks of leave compared with 52 weeks for mothers.

I wonder sometimes where women get their ideas? Do they completely forget that women are the ones who breast feed? Why would any man need more than two weeks? It’s as if women want men to share absolutely everything about child rearing. I regard it as a form of revenge on the male sex. Men are expected to do prenatal classes in breathing and pushing or whatever. They are expected to cut the cord and hold the mass of dribbling goo. For crying out loud, there is nothing uplifting about being surrounded by blood and guts and screeching. It’s horrible enough for the woman!

Where would mankind be if men had not gone hunting but instead, sat in the cave sharing the amazing experience of giving birth and rearing the children. They couldn’t phone Pizza Hut and order dinner. Someone had to go kill dinner. Nature has a way of sorting these things out.

Women, unfortunately, are the unrealistic sex. They want professions, but they also want to have the benefits of not working. Can they have it all? Perhaps, but not at the same time.

If they choose to take time off to have children, they should make that choice in the knowledge that there are compromises they will have to make. Nobody owes them a living. Nobody owes them a permanent job kept open just for them.

If they are lucky enough to find a job they like they should appreciate that it is not theirs for life. It is not a question of entitlement.

Nicola Brewer’s solution, which is to transfer the leave to a father fails to address the issue. If a man is going to take six months off instead of his partner, then there is no guarantee that his job will be waiting for him either.

And if the government legislates for jobs to be kept open, then the unintended result will be that women and men of “reproductive” age will not be employed or promoted as often as those who would not take time off from their jobs.

It’s only common sense that employers prefer employees who are productive rather then reproductive.