Maternity Leave Around the World

[eno0609]

Thought this was interesting...

http://www.todaysparent.com/pregnancy/maternity-leave/maternity-leave-around-the-world?utm_source=_BQIjilB8tXfnKq&utm_content=tpd23&utm_medium=email

[babybell]

Moving to Norway. ;)

[eno0609]

Moving to Norway. ;)
I'm considering Sweden...

[Piglet]

Canada is closer! The article is a bit vague, but we get a full year of semi-paid maternity leave that can be split between parents. It rocks!

[njk07]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[sunnyside]

It is SO hard in America! I had 4 weeks off (unpaid) when I had my baby and as a single mama with no one there to help out, it was beyond rough. But since I work remotely, it wasn't even half as bad as most mamas and their babies have it. Shameful.

[fedoragirl]

Germany is pretty good too. But I think anywhere compared to America is better for maternity leave.

[jren]

I wonder how these benefits correspond to breastfeeding rates.

[indigo99]

I'm considering Sweden...

DH is from Sweden so that's a possibility for us. I don't plan on having more kids so I wouldn't get the maternity benefits, but you do get money to be a stay at home parent too (since you aren't using the free childcare).

[RV Mom]

It is SO hard in America! I had 4 weeks off (unpaid) when I had my baby and as a single mama with no one there to help out, it was beyond rough. But since I work remotely, it wasn't even half as bad as most mamas and their babies have it. Shameful.

Such a good topic of discussion.

I work with many women who live in other countries and they get such amazing maternity leave from their jobs. We in America have is tough in comparison. I had a C-Section for my DD and only 1 month off of work. It was rough. I support my family so I didn't have the luxury to take more time off because it would have been unpaid and I didn't want to cobra my insurance.

[MontrealMum]

I don't know. I think we've got it pretty good in Canada. I don't know which province the stats quoted in the article were from as mat/parental leave is provincial, but it's somewhat better than that in Quebec (http://www.cnt.gouv.qc.ca/en/home/top-4-conges-et-absences/parental-leave/index.html) ...in addition to receiving QPIP and UCCB and $7/day daycare. Things like that are a significant reason why I will likely not return to the US.

[BabbyO]

We had a couple Swedish counterparts visiting last year. They were appalled that we don't get paid time of for Maternity leave....and we work for the same company.

[Dream]

Hmm as far as maternity leave goes USA is the worse country to be in.

[BabyBearsMom]

I'm so torn on this. On the one hand, I would love to be home longer with my kids. On the other hand, I work for a very small organization. My department is only 4 people, so even the 11 (paid) weeks I was gone was a big strain here. It would be next to impossible for me to be gone for 6 months or a year. And the type of work I do is sensitive and not easy to train for (it took me 10 months of working here before I felt confident in my own ability to do it) so it isn't like they can just replace me with a temp.

Personally, I am more in awe of the countries that have the subsidized child care. I would love to have the kids at the daycare at my work, but it is much more expensive than the daycare closer to our house since I live in the suburbs but work in the city. It would be awesome to have lunch with them or stop in to nurse DD2 a few times a day instead of pumping. But instead my kids are an hour away and I am still paying an arm and a leg.

[AnnieW625]

Add me to having mixed feelings about this as well. I love the idea that every American working mom out there could have a year of paid leave from their job, but like BabyBear'sMom said it is just not possible. I was perfectly happy knowing that if I wanted to take up to a year off, with about 8 months of that being unpaid as long as my leave was approved I would have a job to come back to when that year was up. I did neither (off for just 4 mos. with DD1, and 3/1/2 mos. with DD2, plus a month with the baby we lost; I only lost about a month of pay with DD1, and DD2, and I was able to take sick leave for the month I was off with the baby we lost), but it was a nice option to have. I think honestly I much rather would have had the benefit of guaranteed part time work (at a lesser rate of pay, of course) for the first two years of my girls life each.

I also have to remember that those countries that have highly subdized maternity/paternity leave programs have way less in the way of population than the USA alone (and in some cases less of a population almost less than my entire county, Sweden has 9M people, and Norway has 4M people) that I just know that those types of programs are just not available here, and honestly it isn't much of an option for me to move to one of those countrie as well so IMHO it is just best to work with what you have.

[hellokitty]

I'm amazed that there are even american employers that give paid time off. Working in healthcare, we can take mat leave, but you are only paid if you save your PTO time and use it for mat leave. American looks really bad in that link, it's interesting to see that many countries that american considers, "third world" have better mat leave than the US, makes us look like idiots, if you ask me.

[mikeys_mom]

I'm so torn on this. On the one hand, I would love to be home longer with my kids. On the other hand, I work for a very small organization. My department is only 4 people, so even the 11 (paid) weeks I was gone was a big strain here. It would be next to impossible for me to be gone for 6 months or a year. And the type of work I do is sensitive and not easy to train for (it took me 10 months of working here before I felt confident in my own ability to do it) so it isn't like they can just replace me with a temp.

This was one big concern when they first brought in the 1 year mat leave program in Canada. What has happened is that there is basically a whole industry out there of highly skilled people who fill mat leave contract positions.

Still it is hard and I have several friends who felt very pressured to return to work early. One friend was told she could work from home part time when her baby was 3 months old because they really needed her. After a few months got a lot of comments about how she should be in the office more. They ended up offering her more money to come back early and she did. Even with the generous program here, not all women feel like they can take advantage of it, especially when you hold a senior position in a small organization. I was lucky that my firm was supportive of me taking the year off and they found someone to replace me. I spent a month training her and was available throughout the year to help with questions over the phone or via email.

[niccig]

I also have to remember that those countries that have highly subdized maternity/paternity leave programs have way less in the way of population than the USA alone (and in some cases less of a population almost less than my entire county, Sweden has 9M people, and Norway has 4M people).

Annie, these countries also have less GDP than the USA, but they still manage to provide these programs as they prioritize health and education over other things.

I agree with you thought that I doubt these program will ever be available here. There isn't the motivation or belief in having similar programs. Here it's considered entitlement program, welfare, sponging off others. In countries with these programs it's seen as good for the community as a whole. Totally different perspective.

I did read an article about this and in one of the Scandinavian countries it was still all women taking the leave until they changed some things to ensure dads would take it - they could, but didn't as afraid of how it looked. I'll have to look it up, but they needed to change the workplace culture so dads would take it too.

[Piglet]

This was one big concern when they first brought in the 1 year mat leave program in Canada. What has happened is that there is basically a whole industry out there of highly skilled people who fill mat leave contract positions.


I also see the 1-year mat leave coverage as being a great entry-level position, so the people that do mat leave coverage often times stay on in the company long after the mom came back to work. They had a chance to try a company on for size, get some experience and turn that into a career. Of course that isn't always the case, but it can be a great opportunity for the employer and the employee. These concerns were raised in small towns that have a harder time attracting qualified employees and I can definitely see the problem from the employer's side, but somehow after 11 years of having this law around they are all making it work one way or another.