NEW Zealand’s prime minister has announced she is expecting her first child in June.
Jacinda Ardern, 37, broke the news on Twitter and said that her partner Clarke Gayford would become a stay-at-home father.
She said in a statement that she had recently asked deputy prime minister Winston Peters to act as prime minister for six weeks after the birth.
“I fully intend to be contactable and available throughout the six-week period when needed,” she said. “I will make arrangements for appropriate ministers to act in my other portfolios over the six weeks I am away from Parliament.”
TV host Mark Richardson questioned whether it was acceptable for the country’s leader to take maternity leave while in office, and said most employers would want to know the maternity plans of their workers.
Ardern said she was happy to answer such questions, but others should not feel compelled.
“It is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace,” she responded.
Her answers seemed to resonate with many people, some of whom pointed out that under New Zealand law, workplace discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is illegal.
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