Singles don’t mind filling in for parents at work, so long there’s no abuse of the leave system

As the decision to have children is a personal choice that confers a lifetime of contentment, psychological well-being and even family care in old age for lonely parents, the non-parents among us would understandably bristle at bolstering other people’s aspirations. This includes preferential and discriminatory leave preferences accorded to parents to attend to family stresses and for school holidays (“Singles get a raw deal at work. But at least there are signs of change”, January 21).

Furthermore, the social policy argument for subsidising the care of children and their schooling is the payback to be gained from these future workers, whose taxes maintain economic health, and fund public infrastructure and future welfare programmes.

But, as with any public funding, there is potential to game parental leave schemes. There are women who decide to become pregnant soon after starting a new job, who deliberately forego disclosing that they are already pregnant until they are hired, those who leave the workforce as soon as they use up their allotted parental leave, and women (and men) who add long periods of other leave to already generous parental leave days.

I have no problems with subsidised parenthood, as long as other workers who shoulder additional workload resulting from absent new fathers and mothers gain a reprieve with locum colleagues. Parental leave that is not abused is fine as long as their positions are filled by temporary hires.

Joseph Ting, Brisbane