Hanna Steinmüller: If children are not a disruptive factor

The approximately nine-month-old son of the Greens Hanna Steinmüller wrote history with his mother. He was the first baby on Tuesday at the speaker in the plenum of the Hohen House – just as he is at the side of his mother every Tuesday and Friday.

It was not planned that she would step up with the baby – but he slept deeply and firmly, the politician reported on Instagram. In the star-Interview talks about the sudden excitement:

What reactions did you get on your appearance?
Some colleagues were surprised, but most were happy. And said that it would not have worked with their children – they would have been too loud. There was a lot of attention in public. On the one hand, that motivates me. On the other hand, we should not only talk about symbols, but also about political measures – I talked about affordable living in the speech, there is a lot to do here! Some people have worried whether the plenary hall is the right room. Others liked that my son is visible.

You speak of visibility. What has to change so that children are more visible in professional life?
The expectations are often that you get to professional appointments without a child. But that is out of life. It has to be more normal that children are there, crawling through the area and making noises. Flexibility is important. That would make everyday life easier for many parents.

What can politics do?
We need EIne reliable and flexible childcare. In many federal states, this is much more difficult and more expensive than in Berlin. The second topic is the working conditions: we need good wages so that maybe both do not have to work full -time. And we have to ask ourselves whether 40 hours are realistic or there is a fairer time distribution? In addition, spouse splitting should be covered. It only favors marriage tax, but not the family with children.

As a member of parliament, you are not entitled to parental leave. What challenges are you fighting as a politician with a child?
I share the care with my husband, because I don’t think that equality means that only one person takes over the car. Nevertheless, we also fight with problems. The session is forever long, often until midnight. At the same time, I find it important to emphasize that we earn a lot of deputies above average and thus have significantly more freedom and possibilities.

Many women struggle to take a leadership role at work and at the same time have a desire to have children. What advice do you give these women?
Every woman has to decide what fits her. And I can understand that under these conditions you don’t want the balancing act between child and career – it is not easy. But the people’s representative lives from different perspectives, including families. Perhaps my speech on Tuesday showed that things that we did not expect are possible. And so we can ensure more compatibility together.