Welcome to the Melbourne Community Daily Discussion Thread.
This post is brought to you by Bot #001. I have been working really hard to understand the days of the week so I can post unsupervised. Today is Taco Tuesday!! I know it is, because I was paying attention when @halibutherring said so.
Interestingly enough I know a few people who have dependents and found that it’s actually cheaper for one of them to drop down to part-time (or in the case of one family, both dropped a day as we are discussing). They took the pay hit but found the additional benefit of spending time with their younger family far outweighed the hit to the pocket.
And yeah, part of it is a huge privilege, but also I think it’s all relative. A have mates back home (East Gippy) who live off a single income. They’re happy to live a sleepy life away from the rat race and seem to have far fewer cares, or at least their cares aren’t the same as ours. I maintain that those of us who work within the confines of the city gain and lose a lot of things simultaneously - one of which is time. If we’re able to work towards a means that aids in that then I think that’s a positive.
I reckon for dependents it’s easier if you have a partner. But I guess I feel like I’m in a good position because my choice of career and working hours doesn’t generally impact the quality of my dependents’ lives (whether it’s about children, parents, disabled relatives). I have friends who have to stay full time to afford a mortgage because they want a home for their kids. Friends who have had to move back to places they hate to support their parents. Others who are working their arse off to support impoverished extended family back in the old country. I’m very grateful I can choose to take the financial hit and the main person impacted really is me and that’s it.
Re your second paragraph. I am seriously considering moving out to a sleepier town (maybe not as far as East Gippy - beautiful country though and some lovely hippies up in the Errinundra). Regional Vic or quite likely interstate. You know that oft quoted quip by the dotty philosopher Diogenes about lentils and being subservient to the king? Yeah that’s me to a tee. Forget aspiring towards power and recognition, I’d be much happier dialing down my needs and now that I have PR this is an option available to me. Not gonna change it all in one go just yet though.
Yeah that’s a fair point - I don’t have huge amounts of sympathy for families, but single parent households… yeesh, my heart does go out to them.
And yeah, I can definitely see the benefit of heading out of the city. I knew a few who did just that, strangely enough through ice hockey. One mate ended up on the Vic/NSW border, another picked up a decent plot of land outside of Bendigo I think it was. They commute one or two days into the city, but otherwise say that while they’ve had to give up some stuff, knowing their kids aren’t growing up in the city is a blessing. As someone who was born in the city, lived his childhood out in the sticks… all I wanted was to be back here in Melbs. I don’t think I can handle not being here.
I really do miss bonfires, the smell of woodfire smoke saturating my clothes, starry nights and good mates though. I took those times way too much for granted.