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13.10.2021 Career & Money

Pregnant Fish

Pregnant Fish
13.10.2021 LISTEN

Who will hire a pregnant girl?

Are you insane?

Didn’t I warn you not to get pregnant yet?

Practically speaking I think he’s right.

As a pregnant woman you’re entitled to maternal leave for at least 3 months. All salaries will be paid. Post-partum, you’ll be granted half day work for another one month if you’re lucky, meaning the company will be losing money for the 3 to 4 hours of work you would have done if not for their amnesty and respect for labor laws.

So here is the deal; they hire a man who wouldn’t go on paternity leave, have hormonal imbalances, or have to rush out of the office early enough to pick his child from school.

Huh! Practical! Yeah it is. And equally financially prudent for a company. After all business to make profits not some charity work or paying a loud mouth woman for doing little to nothing.

Well, this is my sad reality. Wanting to work and getting the “you’re pregnant, we can’t hire you, excuse.”

And knowing that, in your current run, you’re underemployed with consistent delay in the meagre remuneration plus a heap load of responsibilities to cater for, for your unborn child.

Come off it, it’s a really hard world out there. Not to talk of the high cost of living a comfortable life.

Puff! What am I even thinking, how can I want to further my education and still have at least a handsome 4 figure paying job as well as run my family perfectly?

As they say, you cannot have it all. Make a choice and stick to it. Do I really have to?

I think otherwise. I know it’s difficult to combine so many things at the same time, but I also know what it means to be hungry for career relevance, a good family, and academic progression.

I certainly don’t want to be a part of the clichéd theory that, women who are successful in their careers have terrible families and can barely hold a relationship.

I certainly don’t want to be a part of the group that had to trade their life goals in order to take care of the children.

I want to be able to find a middle ground. Make practical the skill of multitasking and accent the conviction that it is possible to be who you desire to be irrespective of whether you’ll be on Maternity Leave or not. All I am asking for is a chance to use my skills to make a meaningful income to support my family while I pursue the lifetime goal to the bar. It’s not too much to ask for, is it?

My guts and spirit tell me, there is a way, and it will pop up soon.

Abila Abagi
Abila Abagi

News ContributorPage: AbilaAbagi

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