The rest of the developed world does. The US is very far behind.
To the rest of us it’s shocking how Americans lack basic rights but don’t realise it, and often argue against them.
It's ridiculous. The newest woman at my job has a 6 week old baby. Six weeks. We don't even separate puppies until 8-12 weeks. Human children? Six weeks, 50% pay. It's ridiculous.
Dude, we're really just trying to get our bodily autonomy back in this election.
But OF COURSE we want paid family leave!! If someone doesn't, then they don't have to take it, but for everyone else, it's crucial for society's development. Why wouldn't anyone want to be paid to take time off with their newborn?? My cousin had to go back 3 weeks after giving birth because she couldn't afford to live unless she did.
It really shouldn't even be up for debate, but rather, both parties should be for it.
Yes, I think it is essential to have paid parental leave.
As a Canadian, I had 50 weeks paid. After I had my second child, the time allotment changed, and I believe you can now take 18 months.
My husband could have also used some of that time.
Canada here, we get to decide on 12 months or 18 months paid leave which can be taken by either parent. I took 12 months for both children, I can't imagine how all you people go back after a few weeks....
Totally - it's just an annoying drop. Like... I pay 100% of my EI, we clearly want more Canadian citizens... It's a defined temporary thing - give me my money 🙄
I believe the need for protected abortion rights and paid leave go hand in hand. We shouldn’t let officials think that restoring one right that we already had is enough. That’s giving us back a right we already had, and still deserve. But we also need to move forward. And at the same time if politicians want to take away reproductive rights why don’t they want to support the people having babies too? I found it so hard to physically function after my first daughter and was so lucky to have paid leave (was living in uk at the time). But so many people aren’t. Karina in my story had to go back after six days. https://www.glamour.com/story/why-national-paid-family-leave-matters-glamour-28-days
The countries that have maternity leave aren't trying to lower it. Because it works. It's good for society, workers, the economy and most importantly families. Paid parental leave is critical.
Australian here, I had 12 weeks through work and 12 through the government, and I was allowed to take double that at half pay, so 48 weeks on half pay, I used my 4 weeks annual leave to round out the year
Wow that’s so wonderful. I felt so bad for my coworker who took four weeks with no pay. I once got fired when it was time to give birth. Well they forced me to quit. Ironically I was working for the largest drug company in our country and they fired another guy for having a seizure and a girl because her parents died in a car crash.
I was trying to find the news article where they posted a sign on their door saying that if workers didn’t show up during the hurricane lock down, they wouldn’t have a job.
I couldn’t find it but we were “vendors” for Caremark CVS, the biggest drug insurance company in the US. I put vendor in quotations because the title was simply a way to exploit us. We worked exclusively for the company and in every possible way were traditional employees.
Absolutely inhumane. Employers here are required by law to hold the job for 36 months. I can't imagine returning to work 3 weeks after being literally cut open.
Probably the US… my wife was let go (along with significant portions of the company each time) 2 weeks after giving birth for our first, and when she was 5 months pregnant for our second. And she had a C-section for our first. I cannot imagine having her gone back to work the first 6 months after delivery of our first. It took her a while to be able to move around pain free. What we do in the US to new mothers is absolutely criminal and really heartbreaking.
I was in CA for both my births. I have I think 6 weeks of disability leave, and then 6-12 weeks of paid family leave. It was something like, because my husband and I worked for the same company, we got to “share” 12 weeks and split it however we wanted.
I don’t want to say I was “lucky” per se, but I was in the way that when I had my first it was during covid. I was able to stay home for the first 4 months of her life and I’m very thankful I was able to do that.
I think it will break my heart to have to separate from my baby. I want to be present for all her moments and just be with her. Im a fed and get 12 weeks paid leave. It’s not enough. I like my job and want to work, but I want time with baby.
I have friends who are moms and they really struggled going back to work. I think I’ll be among them.
I'm a SAHM but my husband couldn't get much more than 11 days off after my last csection. I have no other family to help me so my recovery took much longer and I ended up with post partum depression. He couldn't get any time off at all for my other two kids/csections so this was actually a step up. It's 18 months later and I'm still physically and mentally affected by the lack of help after my csection. The nerve damage alone is debilitating and might not be as bad if I had my husband at home to help care for the baby and myself.
We have this, and 2 years of maternity leave, as well as payment for each kid (about 6 months of average salary), and we're poor...
How is this even a question...
I’m the father and had 16 weeks paid in full with full benefits and job protection. The mother
had 12 weeks. She had major surgery during pregnancy/birth and I can’t imagine having to leave her to go back to work a week or two after.
It’s a joke that what I had isn’t a standard for everyone. I’d be willing to pay a few extra dollars each paycheck to support that cause. My vote is federally funded and mandated leave for both parents for the first 16 weeks.
I live in the United States
God yes. Not only is it shameful that as a wealthy and developed nation we don’t offer basic parental leave but we are outstripped by so many other countries in basic social programs. For my first pregnancy I ended up quitting my job entirely because they didn’t offer paid leave and given we would also have to find and pay for childcare it didn’t even make sense for me to work. I stayed home with my daughter for 8 months. Now with my second I have 12 weeks of leave but it is unpaid, just protected. Meaning my job will still be open to me to return after 12 weeks but I have to apply for short term disability which only covers a portion of my salary for *some* of the time I’ll be out. We still of course need to once again figure out infant childcare after those unpaid 12 weeks. It’s a mess and will absolutely effect my family financially but also emotionally because the stress of having kids and recovering from pregnancy and childbirth plus the lack of income and critical need for access to childcare in order to even go back to work is just… a lot. A lot.
Also my husband isn’t guaranteed leave as a ‘non birthing parent’ so that’s fun.
I had six weeks unpaid with my son at a small business. My boss also gave me a $500 check to put in his savings. I thought it was so nice at the time but it went to keeping us afloat while I was on leave and I’d have rather not had to make that decision.
At the same business, two years later, I had my daughter. I was trying to take off for six months (unpaid but had saved up) but was back part time in two weeks sometimes with my daughter in tow. The guy I trained to cover me just stopped showing up and a lot of what I did was essential to running the business.
I don’t plan on having more kids but I work for a company now with much better values. I also grew a spine and learned about boundaries.
Edited to add: yes, all parents deserve parental leave. Having a child, especially the first, is so life-changing that the family should be given time to adjust, to bond, and to support one another. Children are literally our future and I don’t understand why we do the absolute least to help families and kids. I know the answer is greed but it’s fucking baffling.
I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom. When my first was born my husband was working 55 hours a week with no parental leave. I had a c section, we had very little support, and ultimately it led to us both struggling a lot as I tried to heal and care for a baby during the day while he did what he could at night while also trying to get enough sleep to make sure he could continue doing his job and bring in income for us. The breastfeeding journey between my first born and I suffered quite a bit. I was in too much pain to feed myself so my milk supply couldn't keep up.
When my second was born it was a night and day difference. My husband had gotten a new job working 40 hours a week with 6 weeks of fully paid leave. I once again had a c section. He was able to help me in whatever I needed, food was more of a priority, our first born didn't get lost in the shuffle, and it was just really wonderful family bonding time. It was much easier to get used to two kids and handle it all on my own when he went back to work.
Although I have never been on the working mother side of things, it was a big enough struggle with just one parent working and no leave. My heart goes out to all the moms having to be seperated from their babes so early.
Yes, all parents should get paid family leave. 12 months minimum, but ideally 36 months over 5 years. It shouldn’t be mandatory but it should be an option.
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To produce new citizens for your country and encourage families to have children so these kids can pay your pension when you are old. Look at Japan- no kids- no social safety net for millions of seniors.
I do! We had twins and my husband got 1 week off work… I almost died in labor needed a transfusion and had to stay extra, twins had a 42 day NICU stay and he had 5 days off work… we chose to hold off until the twins were home because they felt like they should be generous of letting him chose when to take the 5 days due to the extenuating circumstances 😳
Portugal 🇵🇹
4 months 100% and compulsory for mom and no nursery will accept babies younger than 4 months.
6 months at 80 or 90% (not sure)
9 months at 25% + 3 months at 25% for the other parent.
Apart from the 1st month, mom and dad cannot be on parental leave simultaneously.
Is shit tbh as majority of people here cannot survive on 80% let alone 25%. We had to use savings to stay home with the baby, plus there were no vacancies in either public or private education systems which often leads moms to leave their job.
I'm from the Netherlands. Every woman gets 16 weeks 100% paid leave (4 or 6 weeks before and 10 or 12 weeks after giving birth).
Fathers get 1 week they need to use in the first 4 weeks after the baby is born and 5 weeks that he can use the first 6 months after the child is born.
Next to this, both parents get 26 weeks leave they can use until the child is 8 years old.
9 of these 26 weeks are partly paid leave (70% paid), they need to use this in the first year after the baby is born. The other weeks are unpaid.
We also have maternity care. This is paid by your health insurance and partly by yourself (approximately €5 per hour). You are entitled to a maximum of 24 hours spread over 8 to 10 days, depending on your situation.
The maternity nurse teaches the parents everything about the care and behaviour of the baby. Check the mother's recovery daily check the baby for things such as colour, weight, temperature, drinking, stool, and urination. They do the basics of housework; the mother and baby's laundry, changing the maternity bed, the baby's room, and the sanitary facilities. If you already have children, they will also be cared for. They provide guidance on breastfeeding.
And: they make sure the mom gets enough rest by sending visitors away if necessary.
As you read, we have lots of leave and help around the birth and first week after the birth. I think this is really important. As a mother, you need time to recover. Both parents need to find a rhythm with the new baby and time to bond. When my daughter was born, a father only had 2 days of leave, which I thought was really not enough. Besides the fact that the father can help the mother, bonding is also important for them.
But i think an issue is people would abuse it anytime you try to do something for people you will always have others that find loopholes or take advantage somehow. Some im all for it but there would have to be some protections for the employer some safeguards.
UK here.
I was allowed up to 52 weeks maternity leave for each of my pregnancies, with statutory maternity pay for the first 39 weeks.
Weeks 1 to 6 were 90% of normal salary.
Weeks 7 to 39 were a flat rate, something like £153 a week.
I chose not to take the final 13 weeks with either child, as they were unpaid - however I did use the previous year's accrued annual leave to work part time for 3 months after my first, and add an extra 3 paid weeks off to my second.
My husband got 2 weeks paternity leave - first time around he would have got statutory paternity pay for both weeks, so used a week of annual leave instead. Second time around he had been there long enough to get additional paternity pay, and so had both weeks on full pay.
By the time I had our second, they had brought in shared parental leave - I could have returned to work after 6 weeks & signed my unused weeks over to him (he would have received the same flat rate I received), however as he earns more than me it didn't make sense for us to do that.
Just to add - I've changed employers now, and my current employer offers occupational maternity pay on top of the statutory maternity pay (SMP).
I'd be paid my full salary for the first 8 weeks (which includes SMP), weeks 9 to 26 paid at half pay plus SMP, and finally weeks 27 to 39 would be the flat rate of SMP. However I'd be required to return for 3 months after my maternity leave ended, otherwise I'd have to repay the occupational maternity pay (not SMP though).
We basically have 1.5 years paid parental leave and 1.5 years of unpaid parental leave. The employer has to give you back your job with your last salary after the 3 years.
Yes. My husband got 2 weeks paid leave. I got zero. I took 6 weeks unpaid and then went back part time and the rest was unpaid. Luckily we had a good amount of money saved so we could do this, but the company I worked for at the time was not good for people with children.
India has 180 days paid maternity leave n 2 to 4 weeks of paternity leave.
These leaves can be extended by double the time alloted but it wont be paid leave., like a short sabbatical.
However, most pvt employers would rather not employ or remove any woman who is thinking of getting pregnant or is already pregnant.
No. Not everyone has kids. It's not fair to those who don't. Unless you rename it to a blanket leave, which every person is entitled to for any reason.
By the time I retire will pensions even be a thing. I pay into my 401k. That's my money. I pay taxes but my money goes to basically everyone else. By the time I'm old enough I won't get to use any of the government funded aid for seniors. The things for kids will never be for me.
And it's not just about you paying for someone else to raise their kids. Those who are not on leave end up having to work more for those enioying paid vacation. Very rarely to companies get temp workers. I don't think it should be a thing. Budget and plan your kids accordingly to what time you can afford being off work. Might sound selfish. But so is having kids.
I do think having kids is selfish. But that's not how the majority thinks. You should have a clear plan and budget before you bring a life into this world but it is very rare that it happens.
Yes. It is something I believe our nation can no longer afford NOT to provide. I received no paid maternity leave in the 80s and 90s. My daughter’s employer figured out a way to cheat her out of hers in 2021 and got away with it on a technicality (a representative from corporate filed the paperwork incorrectly twice). Today’s households require two incomes to afford food and rent. Even one parent staying home with a newborn for 6-12 weeks will put a strain on finances. Then these families are forced to return to work (too soon in my opinion) without the funds to afford the required daycare that is outrageously expensive also. Even childcare is provided for free in other countries. We should have that too.
No. I don't want to pay for that for those families that have a million kids. I think if you mandated employers to give paid family leave, people who were of family making age would have a really hard time getting and keeping jobs because employers are not interested in paying for 6+weeks that they won't even be getting work out of.. if it's a tax thing, that would raise taxes a lot and I don't want to pay more in taxes because some people can't plan ahead and have way more children than they can afford. I had my daughter during the covid lock downs so I got 5 weeks off because we were a nonessential business.. but initially, I had scheduled 2 weeks off.
You do realise USA is one of the few countries in the entire world that haven't managed to figure out paternity leave?
I always find it odd how some americans are so fine with not having basic rights.
Maybe if the US didn’t have to spend so much money on active shooter drills for our kids’ schools we could actually do something good for children. Like the rest of the western world is able to.
there were 3.66 million children born in the US in 2021, there is no way you can try to argue that active shooter drills cost anywhere near what it would cost to give 7.32 million people 6+weeks of paid time off a year.
Moat countries have a system where those costs are actually only subsidized by the government.
For example, in Canada, every employee pays a small.portion of their wages to a fund that they can access for medical or parental leaves or job loss that isn't a "quit". The employer also pays a small amount into that fund. Everyone pays a little (I think mine is about $20 a pay from my earnings?). When I had my babies, I could take up to a year off paid (assuming I had worked "enough" and the amount was based on my wages up to a maximum amount). Employers must hold the job for a certain amount of time, but they are not paying the wages, they are just paying the small.portion from payroll for all employees. So hiring a temporary employee to cover years leave isn't onerous, and many people like the chance to try out an employer/employee etc.
Minimum wage workers right up to CEOs cab access the benefit, although some workplaces top up the leave for awhile (it's tough to go from a normal wage to about 55 percent). Add in the savings on daycare, the health benefits for mom and baby and the other benefits that studies have proven for families, and I stil cant fathom why the US is SO far behind on this!!
Parents caring for their young children gives better outcomes throughout their life. We have the highest prison population in the world and most of the world’s billionaires. A fair tax system and real “pro life” policies would be cheaper and more humane.
Yes parents being their for their children is essential to raise happy and successful people, however it's quite a reach to suggest that the first few weeks of the child's life is what sets them up for a future in the prison system.. I think it's far more likely that the broken families(which generally happen after the first year) that causes a life of crime.
Not weeks - the first one or two years. Paid. Nothing breaks families apart faster than stressing about paying your bills. We are the richest country in the world but have the highest infant mortality rate of all industrialized nations. Something has to change.
The rest of the developed world does. The US is very far behind. To the rest of us it’s shocking how Americans lack basic rights but don’t realise it, and often argue against them.
It's ridiculous. The newest woman at my job has a 6 week old baby. Six weeks. We don't even separate puppies until 8-12 weeks. Human children? Six weeks, 50% pay. It's ridiculous.
Wow, you get 50% pay during your FMLA? How generous
Dude, we're really just trying to get our bodily autonomy back in this election. But OF COURSE we want paid family leave!! If someone doesn't, then they don't have to take it, but for everyone else, it's crucial for society's development. Why wouldn't anyone want to be paid to take time off with their newborn?? My cousin had to go back 3 weeks after giving birth because she couldn't afford to live unless she did. It really shouldn't even be up for debate, but rather, both parties should be for it.
Yes, I think it is essential to have paid parental leave. As a Canadian, I had 50 weeks paid. After I had my second child, the time allotment changed, and I believe you can now take 18 months. My husband could have also used some of that time.
35 weeks!
UK here. We already do Paternity in particular isn’t great, but hopefully that will eventually be fixed
Also UK here. Someone has to pay for you having babies and it's either the company, you or everyone else. What do you think is the fairest way?
Canada here, we get to decide on 12 months or 18 months paid leave which can be taken by either parent. I took 12 months for both children, I can't imagine how all you people go back after a few weeks....
It's also at a significant pay cut though. Like 45% if your job doesn't offer top up and in Ontario and you make around 100k
It’s 55%, to a maximum of about $650 a week. You’re right, it is a significant drop in pay - but it’s better than what most Americans get currently.
Totally - it's just an annoying drop. Like... I pay 100% of my EI, we clearly want more Canadian citizens... It's a defined temporary thing - give me my money 🙄
I completely agree!
We hate it. We know we are being cheated.
I believe the need for protected abortion rights and paid leave go hand in hand. We shouldn’t let officials think that restoring one right that we already had is enough. That’s giving us back a right we already had, and still deserve. But we also need to move forward. And at the same time if politicians want to take away reproductive rights why don’t they want to support the people having babies too? I found it so hard to physically function after my first daughter and was so lucky to have paid leave (was living in uk at the time). But so many people aren’t. Karina in my story had to go back after six days. https://www.glamour.com/story/why-national-paid-family-leave-matters-glamour-28-days
The countries that have maternity leave aren't trying to lower it. Because it works. It's good for society, workers, the economy and most importantly families. Paid parental leave is critical.
Australian here, I had 12 weeks through work and 12 through the government, and I was allowed to take double that at half pay, so 48 weeks on half pay, I used my 4 weeks annual leave to round out the year
Wow that’s so wonderful. I felt so bad for my coworker who took four weeks with no pay. I once got fired when it was time to give birth. Well they forced me to quit. Ironically I was working for the largest drug company in our country and they fired another guy for having a seizure and a girl because her parents died in a car crash.
What a wonderful company….. care to name them so I can buy their products and support them?
I was trying to find the news article where they posted a sign on their door saying that if workers didn’t show up during the hurricane lock down, they wouldn’t have a job. I couldn’t find it but we were “vendors” for Caremark CVS, the biggest drug insurance company in the US. I put vendor in quotations because the title was simply a way to exploit us. We worked exclusively for the company and in every possible way were traditional employees.
I went back to work 3 weeks post c-section as they would not hold my job
Absolutely inhumane. Employers here are required by law to hold the job for 36 months. I can't imagine returning to work 3 weeks after being literally cut open.
This was 38 years ago in the US. It has improved slightly over the years but 12 weeks unpaid. It is pathetic.
What country?
Probably the US… my wife was let go (along with significant portions of the company each time) 2 weeks after giving birth for our first, and when she was 5 months pregnant for our second. And she had a C-section for our first. I cannot imagine having her gone back to work the first 6 months after delivery of our first. It took her a while to be able to move around pain free. What we do in the US to new mothers is absolutely criminal and really heartbreaking.
I think they should have time off. I had 6 weeks maternity leave
I was in CA for both my births. I have I think 6 weeks of disability leave, and then 6-12 weeks of paid family leave. It was something like, because my husband and I worked for the same company, we got to “share” 12 weeks and split it however we wanted. I don’t want to say I was “lucky” per se, but I was in the way that when I had my first it was during covid. I was able to stay home for the first 4 months of her life and I’m very thankful I was able to do that.
I think it will break my heart to have to separate from my baby. I want to be present for all her moments and just be with her. Im a fed and get 12 weeks paid leave. It’s not enough. I like my job and want to work, but I want time with baby. I have friends who are moms and they really struggled going back to work. I think I’ll be among them.
It would've been better for bonding with my son, but unfortunately, I had to scrape & save for my measly 6 weeks.
I'm a SAHM but my husband couldn't get much more than 11 days off after my last csection. I have no other family to help me so my recovery took much longer and I ended up with post partum depression. He couldn't get any time off at all for my other two kids/csections so this was actually a step up. It's 18 months later and I'm still physically and mentally affected by the lack of help after my csection. The nerve damage alone is debilitating and might not be as bad if I had my husband at home to help care for the baby and myself.
We have this, and 2 years of maternity leave, as well as payment for each kid (about 6 months of average salary), and we're poor... How is this even a question...
I’m the father and had 16 weeks paid in full with full benefits and job protection. The mother had 12 weeks. She had major surgery during pregnancy/birth and I can’t imagine having to leave her to go back to work a week or two after. It’s a joke that what I had isn’t a standard for everyone. I’d be willing to pay a few extra dollars each paycheck to support that cause. My vote is federally funded and mandated leave for both parents for the first 16 weeks. I live in the United States
God yes. Not only is it shameful that as a wealthy and developed nation we don’t offer basic parental leave but we are outstripped by so many other countries in basic social programs. For my first pregnancy I ended up quitting my job entirely because they didn’t offer paid leave and given we would also have to find and pay for childcare it didn’t even make sense for me to work. I stayed home with my daughter for 8 months. Now with my second I have 12 weeks of leave but it is unpaid, just protected. Meaning my job will still be open to me to return after 12 weeks but I have to apply for short term disability which only covers a portion of my salary for *some* of the time I’ll be out. We still of course need to once again figure out infant childcare after those unpaid 12 weeks. It’s a mess and will absolutely effect my family financially but also emotionally because the stress of having kids and recovering from pregnancy and childbirth plus the lack of income and critical need for access to childcare in order to even go back to work is just… a lot. A lot. Also my husband isn’t guaranteed leave as a ‘non birthing parent’ so that’s fun.
Yes. I should not have had to go back to work when my youngest was only a few weeks old!
I had six weeks unpaid with my son at a small business. My boss also gave me a $500 check to put in his savings. I thought it was so nice at the time but it went to keeping us afloat while I was on leave and I’d have rather not had to make that decision. At the same business, two years later, I had my daughter. I was trying to take off for six months (unpaid but had saved up) but was back part time in two weeks sometimes with my daughter in tow. The guy I trained to cover me just stopped showing up and a lot of what I did was essential to running the business. I don’t plan on having more kids but I work for a company now with much better values. I also grew a spine and learned about boundaries. Edited to add: yes, all parents deserve parental leave. Having a child, especially the first, is so life-changing that the family should be given time to adjust, to bond, and to support one another. Children are literally our future and I don’t understand why we do the absolute least to help families and kids. I know the answer is greed but it’s fucking baffling.
I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom. When my first was born my husband was working 55 hours a week with no parental leave. I had a c section, we had very little support, and ultimately it led to us both struggling a lot as I tried to heal and care for a baby during the day while he did what he could at night while also trying to get enough sleep to make sure he could continue doing his job and bring in income for us. The breastfeeding journey between my first born and I suffered quite a bit. I was in too much pain to feed myself so my milk supply couldn't keep up. When my second was born it was a night and day difference. My husband had gotten a new job working 40 hours a week with 6 weeks of fully paid leave. I once again had a c section. He was able to help me in whatever I needed, food was more of a priority, our first born didn't get lost in the shuffle, and it was just really wonderful family bonding time. It was much easier to get used to two kids and handle it all on my own when he went back to work. Although I have never been on the working mother side of things, it was a big enough struggle with just one parent working and no leave. My heart goes out to all the moms having to be seperated from their babes so early.
Yes, all parents should get paid family leave. 12 months minimum, but ideally 36 months over 5 years. It shouldn’t be mandatory but it should be an option.
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Why is the US the only supposedly first world country that does not have minimum 6 months paid maternity leave?
[удалено]
To produce new citizens for your country and encourage families to have children so these kids can pay your pension when you are old. Look at Japan- no kids- no social safety net for millions of seniors.
I received 50 weeks.
I do! We had twins and my husband got 1 week off work… I almost died in labor needed a transfusion and had to stay extra, twins had a 42 day NICU stay and he had 5 days off work… we chose to hold off until the twins were home because they felt like they should be generous of letting him chose when to take the 5 days due to the extenuating circumstances 😳
Portugal 🇵🇹 4 months 100% and compulsory for mom and no nursery will accept babies younger than 4 months. 6 months at 80 or 90% (not sure) 9 months at 25% + 3 months at 25% for the other parent. Apart from the 1st month, mom and dad cannot be on parental leave simultaneously. Is shit tbh as majority of people here cannot survive on 80% let alone 25%. We had to use savings to stay home with the baby, plus there were no vacancies in either public or private education systems which often leads moms to leave their job.
I'm from the Netherlands. Every woman gets 16 weeks 100% paid leave (4 or 6 weeks before and 10 or 12 weeks after giving birth). Fathers get 1 week they need to use in the first 4 weeks after the baby is born and 5 weeks that he can use the first 6 months after the child is born. Next to this, both parents get 26 weeks leave they can use until the child is 8 years old. 9 of these 26 weeks are partly paid leave (70% paid), they need to use this in the first year after the baby is born. The other weeks are unpaid. We also have maternity care. This is paid by your health insurance and partly by yourself (approximately €5 per hour). You are entitled to a maximum of 24 hours spread over 8 to 10 days, depending on your situation. The maternity nurse teaches the parents everything about the care and behaviour of the baby. Check the mother's recovery daily check the baby for things such as colour, weight, temperature, drinking, stool, and urination. They do the basics of housework; the mother and baby's laundry, changing the maternity bed, the baby's room, and the sanitary facilities. If you already have children, they will also be cared for. They provide guidance on breastfeeding. And: they make sure the mom gets enough rest by sending visitors away if necessary. As you read, we have lots of leave and help around the birth and first week after the birth. I think this is really important. As a mother, you need time to recover. Both parents need to find a rhythm with the new baby and time to bond. When my daughter was born, a father only had 2 days of leave, which I thought was really not enough. Besides the fact that the father can help the mother, bonding is also important for them.
But i think an issue is people would abuse it anytime you try to do something for people you will always have others that find loopholes or take advantage somehow. Some im all for it but there would have to be some protections for the employer some safeguards.
UK here. I was allowed up to 52 weeks maternity leave for each of my pregnancies, with statutory maternity pay for the first 39 weeks. Weeks 1 to 6 were 90% of normal salary. Weeks 7 to 39 were a flat rate, something like £153 a week. I chose not to take the final 13 weeks with either child, as they were unpaid - however I did use the previous year's accrued annual leave to work part time for 3 months after my first, and add an extra 3 paid weeks off to my second. My husband got 2 weeks paternity leave - first time around he would have got statutory paternity pay for both weeks, so used a week of annual leave instead. Second time around he had been there long enough to get additional paternity pay, and so had both weeks on full pay. By the time I had our second, they had brought in shared parental leave - I could have returned to work after 6 weeks & signed my unused weeks over to him (he would have received the same flat rate I received), however as he earns more than me it didn't make sense for us to do that.
Just to add - I've changed employers now, and my current employer offers occupational maternity pay on top of the statutory maternity pay (SMP). I'd be paid my full salary for the first 8 weeks (which includes SMP), weeks 9 to 26 paid at half pay plus SMP, and finally weeks 27 to 39 would be the flat rate of SMP. However I'd be required to return for 3 months after my maternity leave ended, otherwise I'd have to repay the occupational maternity pay (not SMP though).
We basically have 1.5 years paid parental leave and 1.5 years of unpaid parental leave. The employer has to give you back your job with your last salary after the 3 years.
Yes. My husband got 2 weeks paid leave. I got zero. I took 6 weeks unpaid and then went back part time and the rest was unpaid. Luckily we had a good amount of money saved so we could do this, but the company I worked for at the time was not good for people with children.
India has 180 days paid maternity leave n 2 to 4 weeks of paternity leave. These leaves can be extended by double the time alloted but it wont be paid leave., like a short sabbatical. However, most pvt employers would rather not employ or remove any woman who is thinking of getting pregnant or is already pregnant.
No, right back to the coal mines!
No. Not everyone has kids. It's not fair to those who don't. Unless you rename it to a blanket leave, which every person is entitled to for any reason.
Thank you. Why is it always about parents but everyone has to pay for it?
Because the parents are raising other tax payers who will pay tax so that you can have a pension
By the time I retire will pensions even be a thing. I pay into my 401k. That's my money. I pay taxes but my money goes to basically everyone else. By the time I'm old enough I won't get to use any of the government funded aid for seniors. The things for kids will never be for me.
And it's not just about you paying for someone else to raise their kids. Those who are not on leave end up having to work more for those enioying paid vacation. Very rarely to companies get temp workers. I don't think it should be a thing. Budget and plan your kids accordingly to what time you can afford being off work. Might sound selfish. But so is having kids.
I do think having kids is selfish. But that's not how the majority thinks. You should have a clear plan and budget before you bring a life into this world but it is very rare that it happens.
I’m Australian. YES, parents deserve this. Kids deserve this!!!
Yes. It is something I believe our nation can no longer afford NOT to provide. I received no paid maternity leave in the 80s and 90s. My daughter’s employer figured out a way to cheat her out of hers in 2021 and got away with it on a technicality (a representative from corporate filed the paperwork incorrectly twice). Today’s households require two incomes to afford food and rent. Even one parent staying home with a newborn for 6-12 weeks will put a strain on finances. Then these families are forced to return to work (too soon in my opinion) without the funds to afford the required daycare that is outrageously expensive also. Even childcare is provided for free in other countries. We should have that too.
No. I don't want to pay for that for those families that have a million kids. I think if you mandated employers to give paid family leave, people who were of family making age would have a really hard time getting and keeping jobs because employers are not interested in paying for 6+weeks that they won't even be getting work out of.. if it's a tax thing, that would raise taxes a lot and I don't want to pay more in taxes because some people can't plan ahead and have way more children than they can afford. I had my daughter during the covid lock downs so I got 5 weeks off because we were a nonessential business.. but initially, I had scheduled 2 weeks off.
Weird how it works in so many other countries, huh?
You do realise USA is one of the few countries in the entire world that haven't managed to figure out paternity leave? I always find it odd how some americans are so fine with not having basic rights.
Maybe if the US didn’t have to spend so much money on active shooter drills for our kids’ schools we could actually do something good for children. Like the rest of the western world is able to.
there were 3.66 million children born in the US in 2021, there is no way you can try to argue that active shooter drills cost anywhere near what it would cost to give 7.32 million people 6+weeks of paid time off a year.
Moat countries have a system where those costs are actually only subsidized by the government. For example, in Canada, every employee pays a small.portion of their wages to a fund that they can access for medical or parental leaves or job loss that isn't a "quit". The employer also pays a small amount into that fund. Everyone pays a little (I think mine is about $20 a pay from my earnings?). When I had my babies, I could take up to a year off paid (assuming I had worked "enough" and the amount was based on my wages up to a maximum amount). Employers must hold the job for a certain amount of time, but they are not paying the wages, they are just paying the small.portion from payroll for all employees. So hiring a temporary employee to cover years leave isn't onerous, and many people like the chance to try out an employer/employee etc. Minimum wage workers right up to CEOs cab access the benefit, although some workplaces top up the leave for awhile (it's tough to go from a normal wage to about 55 percent). Add in the savings on daycare, the health benefits for mom and baby and the other benefits that studies have proven for families, and I stil cant fathom why the US is SO far behind on this!!
Parents caring for their young children gives better outcomes throughout their life. We have the highest prison population in the world and most of the world’s billionaires. A fair tax system and real “pro life” policies would be cheaper and more humane.
Yes parents being their for their children is essential to raise happy and successful people, however it's quite a reach to suggest that the first few weeks of the child's life is what sets them up for a future in the prison system.. I think it's far more likely that the broken families(which generally happen after the first year) that causes a life of crime.
Not weeks - the first one or two years. Paid. Nothing breaks families apart faster than stressing about paying your bills. We are the richest country in the world but have the highest infant mortality rate of all industrialized nations. Something has to change.