Politics Round-up: Welfare, childcare & middle class quiz

Crikey! February must have been a dark and cold month around these parts, because it seems that all you lot did was sit at your computers and hammer out hundreds of brilliant, passionate, inspirational posts about the political goings-on of the world.

I’ve been absolutely spoilt for choice with links to include – and I want to squeeze in as many of them as possible – so not too much chat from me this month. It’s over to you.

The Government’s Welfare Bill was very high on the agenda last month, and has remained so this month too. Emma and 3, Looking for Blue Sky, Broken Single Mum and Nicky Clark all posted very powerful and personal pieces on the subject. The Bill finally passed in the House of Lords last week; Diary of a Benefit Scrounger has written a great post about what that means, and I’d recommend her blog as one of the best ways to keep an eye on over the coming months – both to see how the reforms are affecting people, and to see what campaigns are continuing.

Equally controversial are the proposed reforms to the NHS. Mama Lewis has written a moving post about what they would mean for her and her family. Mummy Whisperer has also written about the NHS this month, asking difficult questions about how to decide who gets treatment when the budget is limited.

The third hot topic this month has been working mothers, and the search for that elusive work-life balance. Mother Wife Me hasn’t just blogged about it, she’s put out a call for action with her Mother’s Work Meme, and loads of other bloggers have taken part already.

I’ve also seen two great posts about the rising costs of childcare – one at HPMcQ and one over on the Labour List site. (Hopefully this goes without saying – but just to be explicit – a link to a post on a Labour Party site is not an endorsement of the Labour party! It’s just one of the most comprehensive posts I’ve seen on the issue – please feel free to add articles from other political parties in the comments below!)

For a more personal take on trying to achieve a work-life balance, I love this post from Start-Up Wife about changes she has been making recently.

So those seem to have been the three biggies this month, but that’s not to say there haven’t been other topics getting the blogosphere hot under the collar.

Fenland Witters has got an interesting piece up about local politics and the cost of democracy… Blur of Woodsmoke has been marching for equal marriage and has some great photos up of the various banners she saw on the march… WAHM BAM has got strong opinions on the new phonics screening test… and In A Different Voice has written a thought provoking piece on domestic labour.

Like last month, I’d like to finish with something a bit more lighthearted, so I give you this brilliant and funny post from A Middle Aged Matron – A DIY Guide to the Middle Classes – leave us a comment below and let us know what you score!

As ever, if you write any posts over the next few weeks that you think would fit in next month’s roundup, drop me an email on dorkymum@yahoo.co.uk or send me a Tweet.

About Ruth Dawkins

Ruth Dawkins is a 28-year-old mother and writer who has recently moved from Edinburgh to Hertfordshire. She blogs as DorkyMum on everything from parenting and poetry to politics and photography. Before becoming DorkyMum her jobs included: environmental campaigner, Green Party parliamentary candidate, newspaper intern, and student union president. However, her favourite job was being a climate change ambassador for Ben and Jerry's; a role that involved camping in the Arctic and eating a lot of free ice cream (although not at the same time). When she's not engaging in armchair activism or entertaining her toddler, you can find Ruth wasting her time on Twitter and Facebook.

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