an aussie in austria

I was told when I moved to Austria that if I planned to have children I should definitely do it here because the system is so generous. And yeah… it was hard going through pregnancy and postpartum in a foreign country… but the advice was right… the maternity leave is generous. The system is good to parents.

Starting with eight weeks of paid leave before you even go on official maternity leave, it’s pretty standard to take two years off as a stay at home parent. During this time your workplace cannot fire you. And they must take you back in a part time role.

There are multiple models of leave you can take, mixing up time away from work and amount of money received. It’s complicated. Don’t ask me to explain, because I didn’t have to deal with it… that was hubby’s domain. The model we chose enables me to stay home for two years with Sam… but for two months of that… I go back to work and hubby stays home.

This is fantastic for the person who is the main stay at home parent, or default parent. Because for two months, I got to enjoy life almost like I used to. I got to see other adults, speak to other adults, and talk about something else other than poo and sleepless nights. And consequently, hubby got to experience what I’d done for the last year. He got to discover the fun and the agony of staying home with a child; the sheer exhaustion at the end of the day; that feeling of being on all the time.

I was really looking forward to going back to work. But the closer it got the more ridiculous it seemed. It was almost like doing work experience… like trying to dip my foot back into the workplace was more effort than it was worth… that perhaps it was not such a good idea.

Turns out, it was amazing. More than amazing. What it did was give me a break. Something I desperately needed. And now I feel more like myself, and more capable, going back into the next year with a toddler!