Council candidate calls for a business hub to support professional Mums.

Dunedin City Council candidate Carmen Houlahan wants to see the city utilise the untapped skills of professional mothers who have taken time out of work to bring up their children.

“There are a lot of Mums who were working in great jobs before they had children. Many of them do not want to go back to work fulltime but would love to use their skills by working part-time. I would like to see a business hub for professional Mums where the city could tap into the skills that are currently not being used,” Ms Houlahan said.

The proposal would be to create a database of names and skills of mothers and fathers that employers could tap into.

“I did my masters thesis on jobsharing and I would love to see jobsharing encouraged more, especially for parents or flexible working hours.”

She challenged the Council to think outside the box and do something different.

“ Dunedin could lead the way for other cities to follow us,” she said.

With the internet there was no reason why professional mothers could not work remotely from home or a hot desk hub could be set up in the city.

“Let’s show mothers their skills are valued. Many of them have trained for years to get their skills but often give up working because they do not want to be full time. Why should mothers or fathers who bring up their children have to choose between their children and their job? They should be able to have both and Dunedin could lead the way!

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Find out more about Carmen's policies at www.carmen4council.com

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