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Without parental leave I might be dead

nytimes.com

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Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#11

Post by wastedhours »

bko wrote: post #7

I believe parental leave should be provided, but I don't see how anyone expects employers to shoulder the burden of providing paid parental (in reality maternity) leave without an implicit bias towards hiring men (or at least paying women less). You can provide the same benefit to men and women, but let's be honest, even when available most men take only a fraction of the allowed time. I guess you can force people to…

> most men take only a fraction of the allowed time

I truly don't understand this, and each time I see the stats on it sit in even greater disbelief. Why would anyone turn down the opportunity to spend, for an awful lot of companies, fully paid time off work to spend time with their new family?

Guessing I'm much less "career-minded" than of lot of these guys, but it makes zero sense to me that you wouldn't stretch this benefit as far as you can do.

Edit: appreciate all the comments! Main themes are to reiterate it's not an easy task by any stretch, and fears (both real and assumed) over retaliation for time out. I'm not yet lucky enough to be father, but I still can't square either of those between work and family time.

Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#13

Post by parental »

bko wrote: post #7

I believe parental leave should be provided, but I don't see how anyone expects employers to shoulder the burden of providing paid parental (in reality maternity) leave without an implicit bias towards hiring men (or at least paying women less). You can provide the same benefit to men and women, but let's be honest, even when available most men take only a fraction of the allowed time. I guess you can force people to…

That line of thinking applies to everything, though: age, race, religion, disability. There is no developed-world country where employers don't have to be considerate of their employees needs, including the US, it's just that the US currently draws the line differently to everywhere else... just move the line a little, this isn't a radical change.

Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#14

Post by lotsofpulp »

bko wrote: post #7

I believe parental leave should be provided, but I don't see how anyone expects employers to shoulder the burden of providing paid parental (in reality maternity) leave without an implicit bias towards hiring men (or at least paying women less). You can provide the same benefit to men and women, but let's be honest, even when available most men take only a fraction of the allowed time. I guess you can force people to…

> Saying "other countries do it" isn't really an answer.

It is an answer. For example, my cousin in England was able to spend a year breastfeeding her daughters without having to go through the arduous process of pumping. Their family is alive and well, and so is the UK.

Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#15

Post by nix23 »

>But if you are a person in America who has given birth or knows someone who has given birth, this is just a summary of a sobering and absolutely barbaric reality.

It's just the US, not america, one writing for nytimes should know the difference

https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/brazil/healthcare/pregnancy...

>>Brazil...In 2008, maternity leave was extended from 120 to 180 days

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/10...

>>Cuba wants more babies, so it’s giving parental leave to grandparents, too

Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#16

Post by Communitivity »

I, a man, did not get parental leave at the company I was with when my daughter was born. On top of that, I had asked to travel less and was still being sent on travel, so missed out even more. This was one of the factors in me eventually deciding to leave that company.

Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#17

Post by speedgoose »

bko wrote: post #7

I believe parental leave should be provided, but I don't see how anyone expects employers to shoulder the burden of providing paid parental (in reality maternity) leave without an implicit bias towards hiring men (or at least paying women less). You can provide the same benefit to men and women, but let's be honest, even when available most men take only a fraction of the allowed time. I guess you can force people to…

> Saying "other countries do it" isn't really an answer. There's no clear solutions

Your argument makes me think about this satiric article : https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-na...

I live in a country where it's exactly what we do, and it's fine. I took a 7 months paid parental leave as a dad recently and my company congratulated me for the birth.

Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#18

Post by endisneigh »

The problem with parental leave is the same problem with universal health care or any entitlement that isn’t utilized by the entire population at the same rate constantly.

Things like roads (and even then there are many locales with crappy roads) are easy to justify. Things like parental leave and universal health care are hard because the percentage of those utilizing will be low and the disproportionate benefit will inherently fall with a small percentage.

It’s inherently a Ponzi scheme. Not to say that we shouldn’t participate, but it is what it is.

Add in the mindset of maximizing wealth and it makes even less sense because those who need is will be increasingly less fortunate and those who don’t can fund it themselves anyway.

Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#19

Post by mrsuprawsm »

bko wrote: post #7

I believe parental leave should be provided, but I don't see how anyone expects employers to shoulder the burden of providing paid parental (in reality maternity) leave without an implicit bias towards hiring men (or at least paying women less). You can provide the same benefit to men and women, but let's be honest, even when available most men take only a fraction of the allowed time. I guess you can force people to…

>Saying "other countries do it" isn't really an answer

I mean it definitely is, since 186 other countries in the world do offer paid parental leave. The United States is a huge outlier, especially given its wealth.

Re: Without parental leave I might be dead

#20

Post by lotsofpulp »

Communitivity wrote: post #16

I, a man, did not get parental leave at the company I was with when my daughter was born. On top of that, I had asked to travel less and was still being sent on travel, so missed out even more. This was one of the factors in me eventually deciding to leave that company.

It was a factor in deciding where I wanted to live in the US. I was not going to raise my daughter or expect my wife to have kids in a place that did not have parental leave laws.
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