I was monkeying around the Internet and found this link to a Wikipedia article about parental leave.
Check it out. The United States is dead last in guaranteed paid parental leave around the world.
Dead last.
Not only behind Canada and Norway and all the other countries that top lists like this. But also behind Chad, Djibouti, Nigeria and Iraq.
It’s funny to hear all our talk about family values falling apart in the United States but it seems like it would be helpful for people to not need to return to work so soon after having a kid. And it’s not even that radical of an idea. The rest of the world seems to find a way to do it.
Lithuania has a pretty sweet deal.
52 weeks 100% + 52 weeks 85% (either mother or father can take it or take the leave in shifts)
And Norway’s is just awesome. Both parents HAVE to take 6 weeks off after the baby is born. That’s just amazing and familyrific.
54 weeks (12.5 months) (80%) or 44 weeks (10 months) (100%) – mother must take at least 3 weeks immediately before birth and 6 weeks immediately after birth, father must take at least 6 weeks – the rest can be shared between mother and father.
Damn those atheist, socialist, communist pigs and such.
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If I got 100% pay for 1 year after we had a baby…we’d be popping one out every year or so.
You might want to see what your wife has to say about that first
That is interesting, though. I wonder if there are any rules to how frequently you can use those benefits or if there is a max benefit allowance over a lifetime or anything or if so few people want to have more than 2-3 kids that it really doesn’t become a problem. I guess the 17 years or so of needing to work after the last kid turns one would be enough of a discouragement.
Yes, but don’t those people also pay something like 50% in income taxes AND $5 per LITER for gas?
Their cars get better gas mileage and if I’m not mistaken and a lot of the price of the gas is in taxes designed to limit driving and pay for better technologies, isn’t it? So they pay more on purpose.
They don’t pay as much for health care out of their paychecks. If we factor what we pay for health care as well as taxes out of our paychecks and all the other things like social security and such, it probably balances out better.
And people don’t go bankrupt because they get sick. I’m kind of tired (as a nation) of needing to worry about the financial implications of just getting sick.
I believe getting a paid parental leave after having a baby is important. It should be included in our fundamental rights, come to think of it. It’s a pretty basic need.
That is truely amazing!
I’m currently pregnant, due mid October, and Hubby and I are stressed trying to figure out how we are going to manage me being out of work (not getting paid…at all) for 6-8 weeks after, then figuring out childcare after I have to go back to work. I’ve saved up about 3 weeks of sick/vacation time that I will use, then just hope neither I nor the child gets sick untilI start eaning more again. Many childcare providers do not want to take on very small babies, many even require them to be potty trained before they will take them so we are trying to figure out who will take care of our precious baby! Hubby has saved up about a week of vacation time that he will take after the baby is born but that is all he will get, which completely wipes out his sick/personal/vacation time as well.
I live in France and my wife and I are expecting twins in January 2010. Because it is twins, she will get nearly a full year of paid maternity leave (at about 80%) and I will get 3 weeks. Don’t forget, of course, that I also get 9 weeks of vacation. I think everything is going to work out quite well:)
Yeah, we’re quite lucky here in Canada. My wife was on maternity leave for a year with about 55% of the salary paid through benefits. The goal is for to find a gov’t job before our next baby. The fed gov’t here tops up to 93%.
Dad and Moms can split 35 weeks of parental leave between them. Mom’s get an immediate 15 weeks of maternity.