Dooce wrote a final piece about visiting DC for a White House Workplace Flexibility Thingy. It's good and you should go read it in full, but also, she said this:
America is so uncivilized in this respect. We claim that a focus on family values is a fundamental part of patriotism to this country, but if you look at this chart of maternity leave in the Americas, WE COME IN LAST:
Note that this graph is for paid maternity leave, despite the missing adjective in the title.
The graph comes from Wikipedia, which as a writing teacher, I must point out is not always reliable, is sometimes plagiarized, and is certainly not academic (not that that matters on a blog, but reliability always matters). But the Wiki article cites reliable government sources. The graph was made by an article author and appears to be compiled from the legit sources cited.
What I like about Heather's post (that would be Dooce in case you don't actually read her blog) is that she points out that small business owners often can't afford to pay for good medical, family, and parental leave. She can't afford to give someone a year off when she or he has a kid. In the US, businesses with 50 employees or more are required to give 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave by the Family and Medical Leave Act (medical and family leave is the same). Other countries do more because the government steps in and helps.
Almost every country in the world has better maternity leave laws than we do. And by better, I mean paid. Why? Because the governments help cover the expenses. Almost every country in the world has paid maternity leave. And most countries give longer than 12 weeks. Several don't, but the majority provide more than 12 weeks. Iran's is more than 12 weeks, just barely, but it's paid. 14 weeks maternity leave at 100% pay seems to be the standard in Africa. Russia's is very good. Sweden's rocks: 16 months shared between two parents, which can be extended with unpaid leave.
I guess we in the US are still functioning under the completely out-of-touch ideas that women who have babies will become stay-at-home moms, that all kids should be born to/ adopted by married couples, and that families can be supported with one income, so good parental leave is not needed. Oh, and we don't like to pay taxes because it's better for me to have an awesome TV and tropical vacation than it is for my neighbor to be able to stay home for 3 months with pay after her kid is born (pay that ensures she can pay bills and buy food for those 3 months).
3 comments:
Actually, I guess that should be:
Oh, and we don't like to pay taxes because it's better for me to have an awesome TV and tropical vacation than it is for me to be able to stay home for 3 months with pay after my kid is born (pay that ensures I can pay bills and buy food for those 3 months).
Or, as my conservative students here in Arkansas like to put it, "They're your kids, you support them."
Because, you know, we're all rugged individuals. None of us depend on each other in this society. That's why we build our own roads, treat our own wounds, deliver our own mail, and check for the level of mercury in our own drinking water.
I occasionally point out that the kids these students are refusing to chip in to educate, feed, and medicate will *be* America in about 20 years. They just look stubborn, though. Nope. Only their kids are real kids. Everyone else's kids are mythic figures to be demonized and ignored.
And, Amen. I was only able to take 5 full weeks off with Will because that's all the vacation time I had. Luckily, my mom was available and my work was somewhat flexible so I worked part-time another 5 weeks. In any case, that was NOT enough. So, as I said before, AMEN!!
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