Baby Making Incentives by the Government

Now that the goverment is saying maternity leave will be 16 weeks up from 12 weeks, I think there's a lot of debate going on. Will this mean women jobseekers will be more discriminated against because it'll cost more, particurlalry for SME (Small-Medium Enterprises)? Somebody also wrote about this to the newspaper. Another woman wrote in to the paper and pointed out thta maybe the extra 4 weeks should've gone towards father's taking leave when their babies are born. I kinda agree with this one because I think it would be great for father's to be able to take leave and bond with their newborn and the new Mummy. The extra help would definitely be appreciated by those who have no one else to rely on for help except their husbands.

In the past I had been to interviews where they asked me if I was married and when I was planning to have children. Is it right for potential employers to ask this question, would you ask this question if u were the employer (even if it's not out loud)? I know it's not ethical, but I'm sure this is what's on their mind at interviews. Unless of course you have an exceptional skill or talent the employer needs, there's no reason the employer wouldn't just hire a man instead of a woman to do the same job (unless it specifically needs a woman to do). So I wonder if the government's efforts to increase birthrates will instead create more problems for working women than they know it.

What do you think?