Excellent article from Babette as it identifies some core issues for families, but in terms of the birth rate, the population of Australia will not start to decline until about 30 yrs time. This does provide some leeway to begin programs to enable a more sustainable way of life for women, men and their children.

It depends on what statistics are sourced, but the average amount of paid and unpaid work carried out by women and men in Australia is not that different, being 64 hrs /wk for women and 63 hrs / wk for men. http://www.livinginaustralia.org/Results_Employment.htm#Who

The amount of paid work by men is significantly higher, but it seems that women prefer that men are the main breadwinners, (even in couples that have no dependant children).see “Family Structure, Usual and Preferred Working Hours, and Egalitarianism” http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:yhyHNxKHSc4J:www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/conf/conf2003/pdffiles/RDrago.pdf+egalitarian+%2B+%22HILDA+survey%22&hl=en

So if women expect men to be the main breadwinners, then women cannot be expecting men to do half the unpaid work and half the child caring also.

I might add that with modern equipment such as electric stoves, microwaves, dishwashers ,automatic washing machines etc, then housework requires very little effort and should not take more than a couple of hours per day. Child caring is different, particularly if there are young toddlers who have to be watched every second of their awake hours.

So for a couple with children, issues such as housework can be almost eliminated from the problem, and the real issues become :-

- who is going to be the main breadwinner
- what family income is necessary
- who is going to carry out child caring for young children when they are not in school.

If women expect men to be the main breadwinner, then feminism of course will have to be redefined, as men are quite capable of staying at home and looking after young children.

Any programs to help mothers back into the workforce as suggested by Babette, should also be for fathers.

The child care funding is a great idea, as is the 'mother's wage'. The problem, though, is getting quality part-time work in terms of pay and conditions. ie. it pays enough to justify the time away from children and provides personal satisfaction (depending on the goal of working for the person concerned); and, conditions that enable parents to work flexibly in order to manage family emergencies, without losing their job as a result.

There are few of these jobs around at the moment. Perhaps what we need is a redefinition of 'working arrangements' rather than of 'feminism'.

As an employer myself, I am committed to my employees' well being. Why? Because then my employees are more productive and the work place environment is a pleasant one in which to work. Its not rocket science.
I have implemented a number of strategies to assist my workers with their family life. No time to detail right now. Just want to say that I see my business as a part of our society not APART from it. I must admit I cannot fathom Babette Francis's logic at all.

Babette seems to me if you were in a Muslim country you would be telling the women should wear the veil!
Your right in only one issue work life balance is not a employer issue it is a issue for all of us. feminism greatest foe is not men, it’s women like yourself who place chains round your own neck. I had a look at your website and I must say I wasn’t surprised. This article is a thinly disguised Christian fundamentalist attack on modern society with all the usual hallmark as such i.e. loosely connected stats and incorrect conclusions. The nuclear family is gone just like the fifties. Immigration is the best solution to our coming demographic solution and the most feasible. Then again maybe that’s another aspect of the fifties that groups like Babette want to bring back what was it called again…

Babbette is a leader among women having had several children and been a consistent representative on womens issues in the UN forum. The evidence of her work is seen in the energy of her own life and of her sucessful children. It would appear some have pigeon holed her, evaluating the value of her work from some antiquated disfunctional feminist world-view. In case you hadn't noticed the functional families of the new generation are returning to the functional values of their grandparents. Babbette is a leader in her field, and deserves respect. I have heard her speak at several conferences on family issues. Good work Babette!

Kenny,your views are too simplistic.To rely solely on immigration is a recipe for disaster.Our society will become even more divided.How can our society evolve with a common thread with the ebb add flow of a transient populations with no history or affinity for this country?We have to address the falling birth rates.