M.P.s’ family life 'suffering’

Press, 28 September 1976, Page 3

M.P.s’ family life 'suffering’

PA Wanganui | Parliament must pay heed! to the family life of its in-| creasing number of young members, the member fori Wanganui (Mr Russell Mar-‘ shall) said yesterday. He said that last week’s •‘long overdue” Parliamen-j tarv recess would have been;; better timed during the: school holidays. “A serious look at the way 1 Parliament is run is long ]

(overdue,” he said. “I am becoming increasingly con'scious of the inroads a member's work makes into his family life and feel it important that those who organise Parliament’s running recognise the value of family rights. “More young people with! iyoung families are entering: Parliament these days and! their responsibilities and: .work demands are imposing: great strain on them. I

I “On top of this, members iseem to need to spend more [time in Wellington now than they used to — rather than ■in their electorates — and I there is always pressure to i make appearances in other centres.” In these days of changing 'women’s attitudes, Mr Mar- ! shall said, people might find I members’ wives would not so easily accept the demands placed on them by their husbands’ jobs.

"They are being made virtual solo parents,” he said. Mr Marshall's wife, Barbara, agreed, saying she felt Parliament could be as well, or better, organised and still allow for members’ familylives. “I find the separation from my husband the most difficult part of his work,” she said. The Marshalls have three children, aged 12, 10, and five.