Tax Single Mothers

[WestCoastRunner]

I would like to see this change. I would like to see a society where men take a more active role in child rearing, where they're the ones to take parental leave after the first couple months, where they're the ones to quit their jobs and stay at home with the kids if that's what they choose to do.

Edited July 21, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

[WestCoastRunner]

When determining custody, and depending on the age of the child, a Judge will also 'interview' the child to see where the child would prefer to live. Sometimes it's with the mother, sometimes it's with the dad. The judge will take this into consideration.

[cybercoma]

One of the issues with men taking a parental leave is that the way it works now in Canada is that the leave has to be split (I could be wrong). It is highly recommended that women take as much time off at the beginning as possible in order to nurse the baby. Breast milk is far superior to formula and I don't think I need to go into the benefits of such. If we were to allow men to take early parental leave instead of the mother, then this would have a direct impact on the baby's health if breast milk had to be sacrificed for this to happen.

I'm not going to get into that debate in this thread, but 1) the baby doesn't need to be attached to the mother's breast to get breast milk, and 2) formula is not in any way harmful to children. Many people shame women for not breast feeding, but many can't or simply don't want to. The choice is theirs. So, there's no reason a man couldn't take care of his child while the mother is at work. We have the tools for that.

[Hal 9000]

And with all this reasoning it still comes down to about 84% women and 8% men taking full custody with the remainder being shared. And, there is no bias? Where else would we ever see numbers like this and completely disregard any idea of bias?

[WestCoastRunner]

I'm not going to get into that debate in this thread, but 1) the baby doesn't need to be attached to the mother's breast to get breast milk, and 2) formula is not in any way harmful to children. Many people shame women for not breast feeding, but many can't or simply don't want to. The choice is theirs. So, there's no reason a man couldn't take care of his child while the mother is at work. We have the tools for that.

I'm not going to get into that debate in this thread, but 1) the baby doesn't need to be attached to the mother's breast to get breast milk, and 2) formula is not in any way harmful to children. Many people shame women for not breast feeding, but many can't or simply don't want to. The choice is theirs. So, there's no reason a man couldn't take care of his child while the mother is at work. We have the tools for that.

Well, of course it's a mother choice. I'm not denying that. And if a mother wants to breastfeed, than the dad will just have to wait until the nursing stage is over before he can take a parental leave.

Edited July 8, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

[Hal 9000]

I'm not going to get into that debate in this thread, but 1) the baby doesn't need to be attached to the mother's breast to get breast milk, and 2) formula is not in any way harmful to children. Many people shame women for not breast feeding, but many can't or simply don't want to. The choice is theirs. So, there's no reason a man couldn't take care of his child while the mother is at work. We have the tools for that.

This is the first time i wholeheartedly agree with you!....maybe i'm wrong.

[WestCoastRunner]

This is the first time i wholeheartedly agree with you!....maybe i'm wrong.

Formula is not harmful, however breastmilk is far superior.

[Hal 9000]

Formula is not harmful, however breastmilk is far superior.

Do you remember saying this;

If we were to allow men to take early parental leave instead of the mother, then this would have a direct impact on the baby's health if breast milk had to be sacrificed for this to happen.

[WestCoastRunner]

Do you remember saying this;

If we were to allow men to take early parental leave instead of the mother, then this would have a direct impact on the baby's health if breast milk had to be sacrificed for this to happen.

and?

[Canada_First]

I'm not going to get into that debate in this thread, but 1) the baby doesn't need to be attached to the mother's breast to get breast milk, and 2) formula is not in any way harmful to children. Many people shame women for not breast feeding, but many can't or simply don't want to. The choice is theirs. So, there's no reason a man couldn't take care of his child while the mother is at work. We have the tools for that.

100% Agreed.

[cybercoma]

Formula is not harmful, however breastmilk is far superior.

There's thin evidence of this at best. Better in most cases, yes. Far superior is debatable.

[WestCoastRunner]

There's thin evidence of this at best. Better in most cases, yes. Far superior is debatable.

It's quite superior. I can provide links, give me a minute.

[Hal 9000]

Do you have any idea how inadequate you make women feel when for one reason or another if she can't breast feed? Do you know the pressure you breast feeding fanatics put on new mothers? Do you know that a big source of post partum depression is mothers feeling guilty and inadequate because they can't breast feed and hence properly bond with their child because of BF fanatics telling them so. No!

[Hal 9000]

It's quite superior. I can provide links, give me a minute.

Let me guess - La leche league!

[WestCoastRunner]

Do you have any idea how inadequate you make women feel when for one reason or another if she can't breast feed? Do you know the pressure you breast feeding fanatics put on new mothers? Do you know that a big source of post partum depression is mothers feeling guilty and inadequate because they can't breast feed and hence properly bond with their child because of BF fanatics telling them so. No!

Oh for gods sake. Women can breastfeed or provide formula. I don't care. I'm just saying that breastmilk is superior to formula.

[WestCoastRunner]

Let me guess - La leche league!

Edited July 21, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

[WestCoastRunner]

Aaa

Edited July 21, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

[Hal 9000]

Breastfeeding is more for mom than the baby.

[cybercoma]

It's quite superior. I can provide links, give me a minute.

You can provide all the links you want. I know some researchers say this, but it's a contentious issue that is not at all settled and often leads to people shaming women who choose not to breastfeed. A study by Ohio State University researchers that concluded last year used discordant sibling pairs to test the outcome differences between feeding techniques. The use of discordant sibling pairs controls for other genetic, demographic and environmental factors. The problem with many of the breastfeeding studies, as is noted in the article I linked, is that they do not control for factors that affect both a woman's choice to breastfeed or not, as well as child's health outcomes. These confounding variables include race, age, family income, mother's employment status, etc. There's mountains of research showing that these things affect infant health, as well as the health of the mother and her ability, as well as choice, to breastfeed or not. This study looked at the children's BMI, obesity, asthma, hyperactivity, parental attachment, and behavioural compliance. The study went further and also looked at the health and educational outcomes of these children between the ages of 4 and 14. These include, vocabulary, reading recognition, math ability, scholastic competence, and intelligence.

So that's the setup. What did the study find? When they compared between different families, children who were breastfed had better outcomes than those who were bottle fed. Those are the conclusions that the studies you've undoubtedly dug up have found. However, the important part here is when they looked at the discordant sibling pairs within individual families, that is children where the researchers controlled for the confounding variables I listed above. The results of the discordant sibling pairs show absolutely no statistically significant difference between formula and breast on 10 out of the 11 indicators. The 11th outcome? Asthma. Children who were breastfed were at a significantly greater risk of developing asthma (though these were self reports and not medically diagnosed, so that's a problem).

So I'm unconvinced that "breast is best and everything else is rat poison" (as one commentator mockingly put it). Breastmilk does provide certain antibodies in the first few months, but people who can't or don't want to breastfeed shouldn't sweat it. More importantly, nobody should be giving them grief for choosing formula.

[WestCoastRunner]

So I'm unconvinced that "breast is best and everything else is rat poison" (as one commentator mockingly put it). Breastmilk does provide certain antibodies in the first few months, but people who can't or don't want to breastfeed shouldn't sweat it. More importantly, nobody should be giving them grief for choosing formula.[/

Edited July 21, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

[Hal 9000]

I don't recall saying that everything else is rat poison. I said that breastmilk is far superior to formula and in no way did I insinuate that women should be given grief if they choose formula. You folks here are putting words in my mouth.

But, you did insinuate it! Remember when you said this;

If we were to allow men to take early parental leave instead of the mother, then this would have a direct impact on the baby's health if breast milk had to be sacrificed for this to happen.

That seems like a lot of pressure for a new mother.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Hal 9000

[WestCoastRunner]

But, you did insinuate it! Remember when you said this;

If we were to allow men to take early parental leave instead of the mother, then this would have a direct impact on the baby's health if breast milk had to be sacrificed for this to happen.[/

Edited July 21, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

[bush_cheney2004]

Unless we can tax the breast milk...this is thread drift.

[Hal 9000]

Just so we're clear, I'll point out that we're talking about breast milk that doesn't contain alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, or pain killers.

[WestCoastRunner]

Edited July 21, 2015 by WestCoastRunner