Politician Lindner draws the end: time for family and change!

Politician Lindner draws the end: time for family and change!

The Austrian politician Michael Lindner, the regional council and SPÖ state chairman, announced his resignation from politics on November 9, 2024 to take care of his two sons more intensively in the future. In an emotional statement, Lindner asked for understanding for his decision: "It is important to me to experience at least the second half of my two sons in an active role, I only have the chance once," he said in a press conference. He referred to food for thought from the feminist novel "The anger remains" by Mareike Fallwickl, who addresses the critically unequal distribution of care work.

like tageins.at reported, Lindner's retreat about the compatibility of family and work, especially in the political field. It is still unusual in Austria that fathers put their career back to focus on the upbringing of their children - only 7 percent of fathers in Austria with children under the age of 15. Lindner also criticizes the existing social norms, which often only give women responsibility for childcare.

a novel as a turning point

The resignation is not only a personal one, but also harbors social relevance. Fallwickl's novel enables the overload of mothers and the often lack of responsibility for fathers. The author herself is pleased with Lindner's decision and says that she receives a lot of news from fathers who now want to evaluate her own place within the family. "Family justice you have to be able to afford," said Fallwickl and thus underlined the privileged situation from which Lindner acts, while many fathers cannot escape care for economic reasons.

The gender Pay Gap in Austria, which shows that women earn 18.4 percent less than men, reinforces this problem. Lindner's decision, which he also addresses in Today. Mareike Fallwickl sums it up: The resignation emphasizes the continuing incompatibility between work and family and could possibly initiate a new discussion about role distributions and support families in politics.