Bec’s brilliant new career
17 May, 2005
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Bec’s brilliant new career
Tuesday 17 May 2005
Herald Sun
When Susie O’Brien took issue on this page on Friday with the decision Bec Cartwright and Lleyton Hewitt have made to have a baby she showed that she hasn’t had much contact with young Australia parents.
I have. Four years ago I became one.
Just like Lleyton I was 23 when my girlfriend of less than 6 months became pregnant. While Susie hopes other young people don’t follow this lead – I’d encourage young Australians to consider parenting as an option.
I appreciate Susie’s concerns. She fears the possibility of an avalanche of unplanned pregnancies that will suddenly revert young Australian couples to stereotyped roles where mum stays at home with baby and dad works all day.
This view is out of touch with young Australian’s ideas and the way young parents are organising their lives. Young Australian parents are not falling for the trap that Susie fears Bec and Lleyton are headed towards.
Young parents have learnt quite a bit from the generations that have come before. They are aware of the hurt of divorce, the potential loneliness of a single 30-something and the fear of missing out on kids as the biological clock ticks on. They don’t want any of it.
One young mum e-mailed me about Susie’s piece. “I was horrified to read the way she portrayed young parents,” she wrote.
Young parents understand feminism. Both young men and women respect the way they were raised and only want to improve on the way relationships are balanced and shared. Young women continue to demand more of their men and young men are realising that life away from work and contributing around the home is a great thing.
By finishing up on Home and Away Bec Cartwright isn’t throwing away her career. Some may suggest it is actually a good career move.
Like many young mums she may now study or begin forging a new career path while looking after baby. She is in the advantageous position of begin able to tour the world with her baby and husband to be, while he works. She is only 21, when other women are stalling careers to have babies in their 30s – Bec will be raring to go.
Instead of being criticised, Bec should be applauded for her commitment to mother her child, in the face of social pressure that forces new mums to return to work only 3 months after giving birth.
It is a misconception to think people in their late teens and early 20s are too young or too immature to have children. A recent Australian Institute of Families Study showed that young Australians do think about having children, in fact, 80 percent of them want to have children.
In my recent research into young parents with OzProspect I have found they are developing their own family friendly work and study arrangements with little complaint.
One couple, with a two year-old, both work part-time while one of them studies full-time. They describe life as ‘full and fabulous’, both taking responsibility for caring for their son, doing the housework and having time for themselves.
Their story is not unique. I’ve interviewed single mums who are contributing more than their fair share to their communities. I’ve met young rural families who work cooperatively to achieve the quality of life they desire for themselves and their children.
Now it looks like Lleyton is going to miss the French Open. He is suffering a hairline crack of the rib after a fall in his home.
Now, I am not at all suggesting Hewitt is making this up, but he has played in the last 25 grand slams. He hasn’t missed one. Once upon a time a hairline crack would not have slowed Lleyton down.
But, he has fallen in love and is an expecting father. He said, “The baby is obviously going to be our main priority”. Is it inconceivable that tennis, the fame and the competitiveness just aren’t as important any more?
I think Lleyton is well aware of his responsibilities.
Bec and Lleyton represent the changing face of their generation. They are going about their life their own way, making their own decisions and showing us that people in their early 20s are as mature and capable as anyone to be great parents.
Daniel Donahoo is a fellow at OzProspect, a non-partisan, public policy think-tank