WEBVTT - Your AM Headlines + The Week Doesn't Work 0:00:06.355 --> 0:00:09.095 You're listening to a Mamma Mia podcast. 0:00:13.435 --> 0:00:17.195 Hello, I'm Charlotte Mortlock with the latest from the Quickie Newsroom. 0:00:19.345 --> 0:00:21.645 The day in the life of a child and the 0:00:21.685 --> 0:00:25.625 day in the life of their parent are increasingly unaligned. 0:00:26.345 --> 0:00:29.125 It's a model designed for a certain era and it's 0:00:29.145 --> 0:00:33.065 being rammed into a culture, an economy it no longer fits. 0:00:33.905 --> 0:00:38.345 In fact, a new ABC report revealed there are 814 0:00:38.345 --> 0:00:42.164 hours each year that dual working families need to pull 0:00:42.224 --> 0:00:45.675 from thin air to cover gaps between school hours, school 0:00:45.714 --> 0:00:47.355 holidays and work hours. 0:00:48.154 --> 0:00:50.354 We're going to try and find some solutions. 0:00:50.854 --> 0:00:54.145 But first, here's Tamsin Rose with your headlines for Thursday, 0:00:54.285 --> 0:00:56.725 October 1. 0:00:57.605 --> 0:00:58.304 Thanks, Charlotte. 0:00:58.865 --> 0:01:02.084 Electric car sales have more than doubled in Australia as 0:01:02.105 --> 0:01:05.685 Aussies seek to avoid soaring fuel costs. But the new 0:01:05.785 --> 0:01:09.045 State of the EVs report found the nation's battery electric 0:01:09.105 --> 0:01:12.165 fleet would still need to grow about 10 times its 0:01:12.205 --> 0:01:17.025 present size to help Australia meet its 2035 emissions target. 0:01:17.505 --> 0:01:21.085 The Electric Vehicle Council also ranked states and territories according 0:01:21.145 --> 0:01:24.545 to their transport policies. New South Wales, the ACT and 0:01:24.565 --> 0:01:28.385 the federal government came out on top, while Queensland, South Australia, 0:01:28.435 --> 0:01:31.475 Tasmania and the Northern Territory ranked equal last with a 0:01:31.495 --> 0:01:34.715 score of 2 out of 10. The largest coal mine 0:01:34.755 --> 0:01:39.375 expansion in NSW history has officially been approved despite ongoing 0:01:39.435 --> 0:01:44.755 environmental concerns. The Yancol and Glencore joint-owned Hunter Valley Operations 0:01:44.875 --> 0:01:47.615 in Singleton is one of the state's biggest coal mines, 0:01:47.755 --> 0:01:52.475 employing about 1,500 people. The ruling from the Independent Planning 0:01:52.495 --> 0:01:58.915 Commission came Wednesday, allowing operations to continue until 2045. Environmental 0:01:58.955 --> 0:02:02.495 group Lock the Gate dubbed the decision a generational failure 0:02:02.855 --> 0:02:07.025 that will exacerbate the climate crisis. The UK Prime Minister 0:02:07.135 --> 0:02:10.405 Andy Berman says Britain should consider options for its future 0:02:10.445 --> 0:02:15.085 relationship with the European Union, including ultimately rejoining the bloc. 0:02:15.745 --> 0:02:18.785 Speaking to the BBC after telling fellow party members that 0:02:18.865 --> 0:02:22.255 Brexit had done more harm than good Burnham said Britain 0:02:22.435 --> 0:02:25.875 should examine different models for its long-term relationship with Europe 0:02:26.335 --> 0:02:29.905 and decide which offered the best path forward. Britain voted 0:02:29.965 --> 0:02:33.905 to leave the European Union in 2016, ending more than 0:02:33.985 --> 0:02:37.955 four decades of membership and triggering years of political upheaval. 0:02:38.975 --> 0:02:42.954 Coming up, meet the small but mighty commando. Plus, why 0:02:42.975 --> 0:02:45.775 you'd be entirely correct in thinking you don't have enough 0:02:45.815 --> 0:02:54.304 hours in a day. Six babies have died in Queensland 0:02:54.425 --> 0:02:58.105 in under three years after contracting syphilis in the womb. 0:02:58.685 --> 0:03:02.295 New Queensland health data shows 55 pregnant women have been 0:03:02.335 --> 0:03:05.775 diagnosed with the infection so far this year, and six 0:03:05.835 --> 0:03:09.655 babies have developed congenital syphilis this year alone, which is 0:03:09.715 --> 0:03:12.935 when the infection passes from mother to baby. The good 0:03:12.995 --> 0:03:16.215 news is it's easy to detect with a standard blood test. 0:03:16.635 --> 0:03:19.845 That's why Health Advice recommends women get tested for syphilis 0:03:19.905 --> 0:03:24.815 three times during pregnancy. And Mexico's National Guard has a 0:03:24.995 --> 0:03:27.685 new recruit, and he's a little different from the German 0:03:27.725 --> 0:03:31.965 Shepherds and Labradors the force usually welcomes. Commando is a 0:03:31.985 --> 0:03:36.645 13-month-old Chihuahua, standing at just 21 centimetres tall, who was 0:03:36.705 --> 0:03:39.955 adopted after his elderly owners could no longer care for him. 0:03:40.495 --> 0:03:43.775 Kitted out with tiny goggles, a tactical vest, a helmet, 0:03:43.935 --> 0:03:47.075 and his own head-mounted camera, He's being trained as a 0:03:47.115 --> 0:03:50.005 mascot and for search and rescue work, and he's already 0:03:50.125 --> 0:03:52.605 marched in Mexico's Independence Day parade. 0:03:55.425 --> 0:03:58.465 Is it any wonder that for too many Australian families 0:03:58.505 --> 0:04:02.335 the margin has become impossibly thin? No margin in the 0:04:02.375 --> 0:04:05.395 bank account. No margin between the school bell and the 0:04:05.415 --> 0:04:08.135 end of the working day. No margin when a child 0:04:08.175 --> 0:04:11.775 gets sick. For a second baby. For dad to be home. 0:04:12.555 --> 0:04:13.455 For mums to choose. 0:04:14.985 --> 0:04:19.085 That's Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood, addressing the National 0:04:19.145 --> 0:04:22.825 Press Club last week. The topic of her address was 0:04:23.105 --> 0:04:26.685 Australia can't afford for raising a family to be unaffordable. 0:04:27.485 --> 0:04:30.475 And that speech hit a chord for women. She was 0:04:30.505 --> 0:04:33.535 putting words to a feeling so many women sit with 0:04:33.895 --> 0:04:35.675 and struggle with every day. 0:04:35.695 --> 0:04:40.015 As the birth rate continues to plummet, with Treasury's latest 0:04:40.055 --> 0:04:43.055 report projecting the national fertility rate will fall to just 0:04:43.055 --> 0:04:50.665 1.34 children per woman by 2066, advocates, academics and legislators 0:04:50.885 --> 0:04:54.005 are scrambling to course correct. But it's not just a 0:04:54.065 --> 0:04:58.615 financial problem to solve. It's also the constraints of time. 0:04:59.635 --> 0:05:02.675 Once upon a time... this framework was built for purpose. 0:05:03.035 --> 0:05:06.875 Like many institutions, we built them around a particular model, 0:05:06.955 --> 0:05:12.055 which was an earlier breadwinner, homekeeper or household model where 0:05:12.175 --> 0:05:13.935 one person earned the money and the other person took 0:05:13.985 --> 0:05:16.945 care of the family. And so it was very much 0:05:17.245 --> 0:05:20.545 designed for a single breadwinner and a parent at home. 0:05:21.085 --> 0:05:25.225 That's Rosalind Dixon, the co-director of UNSW's Gender Equality Hub. 0:05:25.585 --> 0:05:28.795 And of course, now we have lots of two-parent working families. 0:05:28.835 --> 0:05:31.635 We have sole parents who don't have someone at home 0:05:31.715 --> 0:05:34.335 to help out when they get home from work. So 0:05:34.455 --> 0:05:38.075 it's definitely designed to a kind of early 20th century 0:05:38.135 --> 0:05:41.375 conception of the household, which has got more and more. 0:05:41.795 --> 0:05:43.974 Out of date from the 60s onwards. 0:05:44.755 --> 0:05:47.665 I also think that we have had lots of attempts 0:05:47.725 --> 0:05:50.745 to change it, but these sorts of policies move slowly 0:05:50.825 --> 0:05:54.645 because they're so hard baked into how we think and operate. 0:05:56.095 --> 0:05:59.335 When women began entering the workforce, it was a huge 0:05:59.415 --> 0:06:01.805 moment of empowerment and liberation. 0:06:02.485 --> 0:06:04.025 But it also changed the economy. 0:06:04.785 --> 0:06:08.445 It quickly drove up prices so that having a dual-income 0:06:08.485 --> 0:06:12.505 family wasn't a deliberate choice to make, but a necessity 0:06:12.705 --> 0:06:16.585 to get by. This is Elizabeth Warren from the progressive 0:06:16.705 --> 0:06:19.265 arm of the US Democrats sounding the alarm in 2004, 0:06:19.265 --> 0:06:19.865 more than 20 years ago. 0:06:19.915 --> 0:06:21.075 When the budget shifted. 0:06:25.325 --> 0:06:29.164 to take account of both of those incomes, so that 0:06:29.225 --> 0:06:33.825 going from needing 52 paychecks a year in order to 0:06:34.225 --> 0:06:37.535 make the mortgage payment and the health insurance payment to 0:06:37.615 --> 0:06:42.034 needing 104 paychecks a year, his and her paychecks, in 0:06:42.095 --> 0:06:44.795 order to make the mortgage payment and the health insurance payment, 0:06:45.635 --> 0:06:50.945 the family didn't get financially safer. The family got riskier. 0:06:51.685 --> 0:06:55.445 So as prices are shooting up, prices for homes in suburbs, 0:06:55.525 --> 0:07:01.415 for example, what's happening is women, mothers, were increasingly going 0:07:01.475 --> 0:07:04.075 back to work to try to hit the target, to 0:07:04.115 --> 0:07:06.695 try to find a way to pay that mortgage. And 0:07:06.735 --> 0:07:09.435 what happened? The prices shot up. More of them went 0:07:09.475 --> 0:07:11.575 to work. The prices shot up again. More of them 0:07:11.595 --> 0:07:13.735 went to work. And they got caught. 0:07:14.225 --> 0:07:18.125 Staunch conservative Tucker Carlson said Warren's book on this notion, 0:07:18.385 --> 0:07:21.205 called The Two-Income Trap, was one of the best books 0:07:21.245 --> 0:07:25.825 he'd ever read on economic policy. Unpicking that trap is hard, 0:07:26.355 --> 0:07:29.015 and especially complex for women who want to remain in 0:07:29.035 --> 0:07:32.535 the workforce with their own source of income. But changing 0:07:32.675 --> 0:07:36.215 frameworks to better match this new scenario shouldn't be as 0:07:36.275 --> 0:07:39.675 hard as it is, particularly if both sides of politics 0:07:39.935 --> 0:07:44.685 acknowledge it's broken. So what could these changes be? Dixon 0:07:44.725 --> 0:07:45.455 has some thoughts. 0:07:46.505 --> 0:07:49.425 I've long been a proponent of having a longer school 0:07:49.465 --> 0:07:53.785 day that aligns with the work day and having school 0:07:53.825 --> 0:07:58.585 holidays align with structural breaks in workplaces. Obviously, you're never 0:07:58.605 --> 0:08:01.505 going to have perfect alignment, but having more of an 0:08:01.605 --> 0:08:05.005 understanding that school and work needs to actually speak to 0:08:05.065 --> 0:08:07.795 each other. There are schools around the world that have 0:08:07.805 --> 0:08:10.315 done this. There's a school in Silicon Valley that very 0:08:10.375 --> 0:08:13.855 much aligns how to think about the school day with 0:08:14.355 --> 0:08:17.135 the work day. Kids also need a break, so the 0:08:17.155 --> 0:08:20.475 solution to this is not to have kids at pre-school 0:08:20.635 --> 0:08:23.435 care and after-school care from 7am to 7pm. 0:08:23.955 --> 0:08:27.185 Some of her ideas sound really bold, which is the 0:08:27.225 --> 0:08:29.985 kind of thinking a problem of this size calls for. 0:08:31.455 --> 0:08:34.334 One of the ways in which I've tried to propose 0:08:34.415 --> 0:08:37.474 change is to think about a four day at school 0:08:37.515 --> 0:08:40.354 long day and then a fifth project based day where 0:08:40.395 --> 0:08:44.895 kids get to do more reading projects and only go 0:08:44.955 --> 0:08:47.114 to school if their parents can't work from home and 0:08:47.135 --> 0:08:49.565 look after them. So you'd have long day care to 0:08:49.605 --> 0:08:52.285 help them with projects and supervision on a Friday for 0:08:52.325 --> 0:08:54.405 kids whose parents can't work from home. And the other 0:08:54.445 --> 0:08:57.085 would be to pack the after school component of the day, 0:08:57.105 --> 0:08:58.165 the 3.30 to 6 part of the day. 0:09:00.615 --> 0:09:02.875 With much more fun stuff, right? 0:09:02.915 --> 0:09:05.964 So not we're still on the books, but rather we 0:09:06.425 --> 0:09:08.665 get our homework done and then we do coding or 0:09:08.685 --> 0:09:11.865 we do art or we do creative and sporting pursuits 0:09:12.025 --> 0:09:13.365 built into the school day. 0:09:13.825 --> 0:09:18.165 With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, employees' workload and 0:09:18.235 --> 0:09:22.795 productivity should be substantially improved. So why not change the 0:09:22.995 --> 0:09:25.715 adult workday instead of the child's school day? 0:09:26.155 --> 0:09:28.115 We're not there yet. Maybe in 10 or 20 years, 0:09:28.155 --> 0:09:31.645 that's what it looks like. There's some really radical proposals 0:09:31.725 --> 0:09:35.245 around the world. Jennifer Nadelsky and her co-author, she's a 0:09:35.265 --> 0:09:38.505 professor of feminist philosophy at Toronto, want to have a 0:09:38.565 --> 0:09:42.785 model where we have a radically shorter work week. I 0:09:42.825 --> 0:09:45.565 just think it's quite a way off and I also 0:09:45.685 --> 0:09:48.305 think that it's very unlikely that it will be very 0:09:48.385 --> 0:09:50.465 standardised across the workforce. 0:09:51.085 --> 0:09:53.385 Some people will manage that, some people won't. 0:09:53.925 --> 0:09:58.425 Some jobs, which are white-collar professional services jobs, where there's 0:09:58.445 --> 0:10:01.395 a lot of flexibility about how people work when they 0:10:01.435 --> 0:10:05.695 work and they can harness AI, yeah, that's possible. If 0:10:05.735 --> 0:10:09.835 you're a surgeon on call dealing with heart attacks, AI 0:10:09.875 --> 0:10:13.364 might help you type up your notes faster. But at 0:10:13.385 --> 0:10:14.844 the end of the day, you still need to be 0:10:14.885 --> 0:10:17.725 able to go to the hospital to help out rather 0:10:17.785 --> 0:10:21.205 than do the pickup at 3.30. 0:10:21.315 --> 0:10:25.295 While this discussion focuses more on time than the economic issue, 0:10:25.775 --> 0:10:26.445 they are linked. 0:10:26.965 --> 0:10:30.665 A lot of people work full time for economic reasons 0:10:30.705 --> 0:10:32.984 and would love to have a bit more flexibility. I 0:10:33.025 --> 0:10:35.245 loved picking my kids up when I could. I think 0:10:35.285 --> 0:10:38.165 a lot of families would like to have two incomes, 0:10:38.235 --> 0:10:41.255 but a lot more flexibility around how you accommodate care 0:10:41.335 --> 0:10:43.795 with that. So I don't think we should say that 0:10:43.835 --> 0:10:47.165 the only solution to this is paid care. Some of 0:10:47.245 --> 0:10:49.785 it's about more flexible work that allows people to do 0:10:49.825 --> 0:10:52.985 the pickup or the drop off and still have economically 0:10:53.025 --> 0:10:56.725 and personally rewarding careers. So I definitely think we have 0:10:56.765 --> 0:10:59.405 to think about it partly in those terms. And then 0:10:59.455 --> 0:11:02.615 there are people, of course, for whom it's about a 0:11:02.875 --> 0:11:07.215 passion or about pursuing their path where there isn't a. 0:11:07.215 --> 0:11:08.115 Lot of flexibility. 0:11:08.175 --> 0:11:11.335 And it's not about economic necessity, but it's about personal 0:11:11.355 --> 0:11:13.834 and professional realisation. You can't be a CEO between 9.30 0:11:13.835 --> 0:11:15.895 and 2.30. 0:11:16.475 --> 0:11:20.055 A recent ABC report found there was a 7.5 hour 0:11:20.135 --> 0:11:24.835 gap between the work week and school hours every week. 0:11:24.835 --> 0:11:26.355 3.8 hours a week. 0:11:26.275 --> 0:11:29.505 Are spent commuting to work and there's a whopping 800 0:11:29.505 --> 0:11:33.945 hour gap every year between school hours, school holidays and 0:11:33.985 --> 0:11:34.564 work hours. 0:11:35.265 --> 0:11:38.965 Very significant stress. Often it leads over time to one 0:11:39.025 --> 0:11:43.025 partner cutting down their hours just through sheer necessity mental 0:11:43.065 --> 0:11:45.405 health wise, but then that puts financial strain on the 0:11:45.465 --> 0:11:49.434 family and reduces the affordability of housing or other, you know, 0:11:49.535 --> 0:11:53.574 big ticket expensive items. I think that it also imposes 0:11:53.595 --> 0:11:54.354 stress on kids. 0:11:54.735 --> 0:11:58.825 Counterintuitively, the older your children get, the harder the juggle 0:11:58.885 --> 0:11:59.325 can be. 0:11:59.705 --> 0:12:03.125 I always remember when my kids finished very long daycare 0:12:03.285 --> 0:12:05.444 at UNSW and went on to primary school, someone said, 0:12:05.465 --> 0:12:06.925 are you going to ramp up your career? 0:12:06.985 --> 0:12:09.485 I was like, you are aware that daycare is. 0:12:09.385 --> 0:12:12.215 10 hours a day, 50 weeks a year, and primary 0:12:12.235 --> 0:12:14.415 school is exactly those missing hours. 0:12:14.435 --> 0:12:16.474 So, you know, it's good to see the numbers there. 0:12:16.515 --> 0:12:19.834 It gives us hard numbers to kind of put behind 0:12:19.935 --> 0:12:22.235 our lived experience, but not surprised, not at all. 0:12:22.615 --> 0:12:25.255 In terms of solutions you can enable now. 0:12:25.895 --> 0:12:29.345 And without waiting for government or workplace changes, it's all 0:12:29.385 --> 0:12:30.265 about community. 0:12:30.665 --> 0:12:33.045 I do think we also need to celebrate and remind 0:12:33.105 --> 0:12:35.805 ourselves the power of community, which is, you know, people 0:12:35.845 --> 0:12:39.205 who pick up each other's kids and show reciprocity, build 0:12:39.225 --> 0:12:41.645 a positive community, but they also help each other out. 0:12:41.785 --> 0:12:44.444 And I think as an individual level, the way to 0:12:44.505 --> 0:12:46.995 solve this is to pay it forward. Always help out 0:12:47.195 --> 0:12:49.955 your friends and your class parents so that when you 0:12:49.995 --> 0:12:51.195 need help, they're there for. 0:12:51.115 --> 0:12:51.595 You as well. 0:12:52.595 --> 0:12:53.655 Thanks for listening today. 0:12:53.995 --> 0:12:56.444 For more news like this, please click follow on the 0:12:56.485 --> 0:12:59.185 quickie wherever you get your podcast and please leave a. 0:12:59.225 --> 0:13:00.165 Rating and review. 0:13:04.245 --> 0:13:07.114 Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on 0:13:07.155 --> 0:13:08.655 which we have recorded this podcast.