The US is the only nation in the Americas that provides NO paid maternity leave

[rollingrock]

Note that we're the only country on this chart with zero days in the paid columns, providing only a period of unpaid leave.
Well, at least we're still Number One at something I guess. Go USA!




Parental leave in the Americas




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Some notable examples of paid maternity/parental leave around the world.


Brazil - 120 days paid maternity leave at 100% salary plus 5 days paid paternal leave for the father. Note that mandatory PAID parental leave for BOTH parents isn't just the law in Brazil, it is written in their Constitution!

Canada - 55% of pay up to 413 per week for up tp 50 weeks. According to the chart, even the father has the option of taking up to 35 weeks shared leave at 55% salary if he so chooses.

China - 90 days, 100% paid maternity leave. So those big bad communist Chinese are treating their women better then we do? The horror!

Cuba - 18 weeks maternal leave with 100% pay for the mother. Another 'communist' nation puts us to shame.

Haiti - 12 weeks maternal leave with 50% pay. This is significant because Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Almost too hard too believe the poorest nation on earth can offer this kind of generous paid leave while the richest on earth says it can't or won't.

Iran - 90 days, at 66.7% paid leave. Wow, beaten by freaking Iran. Congrats!

Iraq - 62 days, 100% paid leave. Even Iraq!


Mexico - 12 weeks, 100% pay. Another poor countyr takes care of expectant mothers better then we do.

Venezuela - 18 weeks with 100% pay. There go those commies again, taking care of their women! The horror!

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Parental leave


In most western countries parental leave is available for those who have worked for their current employer for a certain period of time.<1> Sweden is one country which provides generous parental leave: all working parents are entitled to 16 months paid leave per child, the cost being shared between employer and State. To encourage greater paternal involvement in child-rearing, a minimum of 2 months out of the 16 is required to be used by the "minority" parent, in practice usually the father, and some Swedish political parties on the Left argue for legislation to oblige families to divide the 16 months equally between both parents. Norway also has similarly generous leave. In Estonia mothers are entitled to 18 months of paid leave, starting up to 70 days before due date. Fathers are entitled to paid leave starting from the third month after birth (paid leave is however available to only one parent at a time). The amount paid depends on wages earned during previous calendar year - most will receive 100% or full wage but there is an upper limit of three times national average.

The maternal-leave only system in Bulgaria is even more generous, providing mothers with 45 days 100% paid sick leave prior the due date, 2 years paid leave, and 1 additional year of unpaid leave. The employer is obliged to restore the mother to the same position upon return to work. In addition, pregnant women and single mothers cannot be fired.

In 2000, parental leave was greatly expanded in Canada from 10 weeks to 35 weeks divided as desired between two parents. This is in addition to 15 weeks maternity leave, giving a total possible period of 50 weeks paid leave for a mother. There is still no paid leave for new fathers, however. In Canada maternity and parental leave is paid for by the Employment Insurance system.

In the UK, all female employees are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave, 39 weeks of which is paid, with the first six weeks paid at 90% of full pay and the remainder at a fixed rate.

Five countries in the world do not offer some form of paid parental leave - Australia, the United States, Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea. However, most employees in Australia are entitled to at least 12 months' unpaid leave for the primary carer, and new parents are able to receive a Baby Bonus of A$5000 paid in 13 fortnightly instalments, which is roughly equivalent to the parental leave payment made to parents in New Zealand. From January 2009, the Baby Bonus has been restricted to parents on a combined income of less than A$150,000.

There is currently a push to expand paid maternity leave in the United States. One organization supporting paid maternity leave in the United States is Moms Rising.<2> Additional information about family leave policies and movements within the United States is available at PaidFamilyLeave.org. It is doing so by appealing to each state legislature individually to obtain maternity leave in that state. The Center for Law and Social Policy is also a leader in the campaign for national paid leave policy and publishes often on the subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave
--------------------------------





Parental leave in Asia/Pacific nations

[Captain Hilts]

1. Do folks really think this would be the case if women were 52% of congress and other branches? nt

[Dan]

24. yes,

Our Congress represents the wants/needs of the Lobbies (and their corporate masters), the ones that foot their re-election campaign bills, and pay for the messages that we receive via the media.

[Shakespeare]

2. While I agree there should be national coverage for this, it's usualy handled on a state level.

Most (perhaps all, I'm not sure) states use short-term disability funds to pay for maternity leave.

[Kalyke]

4. Nope - the employer pays short-term disability - not the state.

If you work for an employer who doesn't provide it, you're only entitled to the FMLA-mandated, unpaid leave.

[Shakespeare]

7. Not in California. The check comes from the state.

The employer pays into a fund, much like UI, but the payment is from the state.

[rollingrock]

8. Its only paid for 4 weeks before the due date

in California. And this is supposed to be the leading state in paid leave benefits?

Compared to the minimum of 12 weeks practiced by almost every other country in the world, it makes us look positively cheap.

[barbtries]

16. is that how it is these days?

i had my last baby in 1992, and you got 6 weeks total SDI. for that reason, i worked up to the last minute with each of my last three children so that i could have 6 full weeks with them after they were born.

[rollingrock]

26. Its actually as low as 3 weeks

from the time you stop working, there's a period of one week you don't get paid. because disability requires you to be absent from work for at least 7 days before your payments kick in, and you continue to get disability payments for 6 weeks after the birth, but paid leave is still pretty rare here. California is pretty advanced in that regard but its the only state I know of that offers it.

[Shakespeare]

27. See my post with the specifics on California.

I used to work in labor & employment law here in California, and I know the benefits details rather well. Benefits vary state to state, but some states have very good benefits (including California).

[barbtries]

39. back in the day,

you only had to miss a week from work if you were not hospitalized. my children were all born in CA as was i. when my son's daughter was born in 2007 he took several FMLA (right letters?) weeks off, but i think he did it without pay. the thing was he didn't lose his job over it.

[Shakespeare]

41. The state sends you a check for FMLA leave.

I had to take a few weeks when my ex had heart surgery. It's a godsend.

[Shakespeare]

23. No, that's not correct. Here are the specifics for California:

"State Disability Leave Statutes - Most states have enacted their own statutes to protect employees’ benefits and their jobs while out on disability. Three states have comprehensive family and medical leave laws that apply to employers of fewer than 50 employees. California has 12 weeks family leave plus 4 months maternity disability leave that may be combined for a total of 28 weeks/year."

http://www.socialsecuritylawattorney.com/Short-Term-Disability-Program.html

[rollingrock]

35. Thanks for the info

according to http://www.babycenter.com/maternity-leave-checklist">babycenter.com, only five states currently offer disability/paid parental leave program for working mothers. This list was last updated in 2006, so more states might have been added since.

'Short-term disability coverage from your state, company, or a private policy, if applicable. (Currently, only California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island offer a short-term disability program. For a state-by-state rundown of parental leave programs, consult the National Partnership for Women & Families Parental Leave Report.'

[barbtries]

14. in fact in CA

the employees pay into the fund through a payroll deduction, SDI

[barbtries]

13. not in CA

in CA it's covered through state disability insurance.

[Shakespeare]

22. That's what I said.

:shrug:

[rollingrock]

6. That's not exactly correct

short term disability for pregnancy has to be offered by your company, and the company has to be located in a state that allows disability to be used in that manner. Otherwise, the only way to get paid maternity leave is to use your vacation and sick days.

[Shakespeare]

21. No, you're wrong. It's a state-administered fund.

You may be thinking of long-term disability insurance, which is another matter entirely.

[rollingrock]

28. You're right

I was thinking of the wrong state.

[Oregone]

11. Why should Unemployment be state run?

Because thats what it is really (not disability). The maternity comes from our UI department, once you pay enough into it.

[Gormy Cuss]

36. Most states do not mandate short term disability coverage or other paid leave.

The last time I checked it was only a handful of states that like California have mandated paid maternity leave via disability insurance. Most state laws deal with expanding the right to unpaid leave to smaller employers or for longer periods than the FMLA. IIRC, half of all states make no special provision for either.

I'm sorry that I can't be more precise here but I can't find a state by state reference guide online that was done after 2005. In 2004 only five states required some paid maternity leave through disability insurance (NY,NJ, RI, and HI were the others)and it's possible that more states have added paid leave via disability since then but even Massachusetts still has no paid leave requirement.

Do you happen to have a link with current state by state status?

[Dan]

3. shhhhh....

People might find out, and that would impact our view as the USA as #1 in all things.

[rollingrock]

12. Silly me

what was I thinking?

our tax dollars are much better spent on Shitibank and F-22 Raptors. :D

[Cairycat]

5. This also severely impacts our breastfeeding rates

Babies' and mothers' health suffer because women don't breastfeed as long or at all with the terrible maternity leave policies.

[City Lights]

9. K&R nt

[Oregone]

10. We get 50 weeks paid through Unemployment Insurance

This drastically changed our decision to have another since we moved. Its an amazing opportunity for us.

[rollingrock]

15. lol

so you're saying that we're Number 1 after all?

Go USA! :)

[Oregone]

18. Im saying...

Im more encouraged to have a child in another country than the USA, thanks to maternity and universal health care. :)

I don't chant, "We number 1". More like, "We're not last! We're not last!". Thank you Sudan, we are not last.

[rollingrock]

31. Thanks Sudan!

I feel so proud.

[aikoaiko]

17. my fmla is completely paid for because I racked up enough sick hours.

[sammythecat]

19. I'm surprised that I'm surprised by that list

It's an eye opener but I should have expected it to be the case.

In this country we are expected to live to work and not work to live. We're pathological in that regard. We really are.

[David Dunham]

20. Paid maternity leave is not going to happen in a time of deep recession. You get paid for working.

[sammythecat]

30. Who said it was?

And yes, people are paid for working, and any benefits received are considered as part of the pay package. Sometimes even the most important part.

Not sure, but you sound resentful of the idea some sort of standardized paid maternity leave.

[Mika]

25. USA! USA! WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WE'RE NUMER ONE!!11!!

We're number one in the social development infrastructure that we don't have. :crazy:

[sufrommich]

29. We get 6 weeks paid leave where I work.

Of course, we have a commie union, that's what commie unions do.

[havocmom]

32. Guilty pleasure: watching local elected GOP official find out she gets leave, but not PAID leave

She simply cannot wrap her head around THAT fact of life.

But but but... it's a LAW! They have to give me maternity leave! It's a LAW!

Yep, they can't fire you for taking some time off. But they do not have to pay you for that time off. Why should the taxpayers subsidize GOP officials' breeding proclivities? :evilgrin:

Well, there goes that Republican family's values budget. Cold, hard reality is slapping people around pretty good. I do feel just a tad bad for enjoying the looks on newly enlightened faces.

[slackmaster]

33. My employer provides 12 weeks at 100% pay

:hi:

[Maine-ah]

34. I worked for a local small company for 7 years

my husband still works for them. At times, the only employees were my husband and myself. He's now been there for over ten years. I had no maternity leave. Nothing. The boss had the nuts to ask me when I'd be back, and I told her I didn't know if I was going to come back. I never did. I now work for a large chain restaurant, that takes care of it's employees. Very family oriented.

[rollingrock]

37. Then there's Europe

Note how the eligibility requirements tend to be much less stringent than the US. In the US for example, you have to be working for at least 12 months for the same employer, and you may take advantage of Family Leave only if you work for a company that employs 50 or more people. And that's for benefits that aren't even paid. In other words, if you don't meet those strict relatively requirements or do not live in one of the 5 states that provides paid leave then you are on your own, and at the mercy of the company . You have no protections at all and no guarantee your job will be there when you come back.


So why don't I move to the old country you might ask? Believe you me, I would and I will just as soon as I can score me a hottie Spanish or Italian wife. :)


Parental Leave in Europe

[crimsonblue]

38. parents shouldn't get 3-4 months paid leave after having a kid. n/t

[Adarlene]

40. It's cheater to retain the employee

(pay maternity/paternity leave for a short time) than to train a new one.

Businesses that treat their employees well have happy productive employees.

[rollingrock]

42. bump for Moms Rising

and their efforts to bring change to the richest yet least family-friendly country in the modern world.


www.momsrising.org/aboutmomsrising