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Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

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Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#91
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About 17% of Americans live in states with family/paternity leave. Zuckerberg's state of California being the first at 6 weeks leave. It's not that progressive. You'll find more and more states passing family leave laws in the next decade (though I would much prefer something at the federal level besides unpaid job protection).

I would say that doing something that less than 1/5th of the country is doing is pretty progressive.

It's probably more, but I just added up the populations of CA, WA, and NJ. I know RI has it, but it's population is pretty small. That said, these programs are funded from employee paid disability/unemployment programs. It's not a huge reach for other states to implement similar programs. They just need to be pushed to do so (by we the people).

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then prepare to be amazed, because they actually have four months paid paternity leave.

I hope the environment is such that people feel they can use it without penalty. Anyone have experience?

Yes, it is odd for someone to not take full paternity leave. See this article where Boz talks about it: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-parental-leave-polic...

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...But how long will it take for paternal leave to trickle down to the largest employers in America who pay near or at minimum wage? 1) Wal-Mart Stores 2,200,000 2) Yum! Brands 523,000 3) McDonald's 440,000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_employers_in_t... IMHO a billionaire taking a two-month leave will not inspire a majority of the top 50 employers to allow their male workforce to take 2-months off. Y…

This is probably going to get me voted down, but maybe...just maybe ...you shouldn't be having kids if the only job you can get is McDonalds or Yum! Brands (i.e., Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.). If you choose to have a child when your resources are that limited, your non-paternity leave is going to be among the least of the child's problems.

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#94
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bummer. Move to a state with family leave laws. CA gives 6 weeks of paid leave to everyone: http://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/FAQ_PFL_Benefits.htm

> Move to a state with family leave laws. Just move! Great and completely realistic solution to the problem of what to do about paternity leave within my company when a kid is on the way. Brilliant! I wish I'd thought of that.

In a complete aside, I've also moved 4 times since 2011. I am tired of moving. "Just move" is not the most useful advice ever.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is probably going to get me voted down, but maybe...just maybe ...you shouldn't be having kids if the only job you can get is McDonalds or Yum! Brands (i.e., Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.). If you choose to have a child when your resources are that limited, your non-paternity leave is going to be among the least of the child's problems.

This and moralizing about the smoking and drinking of the lower classes sound reasonable, but they're basically non-starters. You don't stop having basic human desires when you're poor. And as long as people are having sex, some of them are going to have kids.

I'm not "moralizing" about anything. Effective birth control is readily available. I have no interest whatsoever in policing other people's sex lives.

I'm just saying that if you work at McDonald's, you probably can't afford to have a child.

Yes, there will be accidents, people who fall on hard times, etc., and I actually have no problem with social programs aimed at helping those people out.

But that's not what the OP wants. He wants McDonald's to bear the burden of providing paternity leave for those people.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. My wife had a section with our first, 2 months early, with some weeks in the NICU afterwards. I had absolutely no inkling that recovery would be so hard for my wife; I'd always heard "too posh to push" and thought she was getting the easy way out! It's a brutal surgery and she struggled to do basic things for weeks. Fortunately I worked for a small firm at the time, directly for the CEO, and whatever our HR poli…

Thanks for the kind words. We only had 1 week in the NICU (our son arrived 1 month early due to some maternal complications). That week was hard enough. You also have my heartfelt sympathy. Hope your little fighter is doing well now.

Thanks, she's a vivacious and warm hearted three year old now, you'd never know she was a preemie. They catch up pretty fast. Hope your boy does well too.

Your comment touched a nerve: it was a dramatically emotional time, and I just got shivers thinking how I'd have felt having to do a day's paperwork just to get out of the office. I was very lucky.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice, if you have enough savings to do it. Please don't forget that not everyone is fortunate enough to have enough savings to be able to miss three months worth of paychecks. I did, until I bought a house, sold it, and bought another in the course of a year due to escaping from a horrible job. I'm getting savings built back up again, and I can afford to miss a few paychecks now, but not at the 6 month level I had a…

Guess what. If you want paid family leave as a benefit, you can choose between that and alternative benefits, like having a higher salary, not to mention (for young people that are likely to have a family) being hirable in the first place. It doesn't come for free.

Isn't this a false dichotomy?

And I'm not sure how to parse the whole "not to mention being hirable in the first place" phrase. What exactly are you trying to say?

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...But how long will it take for paternal leave to trickle down to the largest employers in America who pay near or at minimum wage? 1) Wal-Mart Stores 2,200,000 2) Yum! Brands 523,000 3) McDonald's 440,000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_employers_in_t... IMHO a billionaire taking a two-month leave will not inspire a majority of the top 50 employers to allow their male workforce to take 2-months off. Y…

This is probably going to get me voted down, but maybe...just maybe ...you shouldn't be having kids if the only job you can get is McDonalds or Yum! Brands (i.e., Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.). If you choose to have a child when your resources are that limited, your non-paternity leave is going to be among the least of the child's problems.

are you really saying having a minimum wage job should mean you don't have kids? Lets fix that first with basic income. Not to mention that kids are a way to government benefits and tax benefits, financial concerns are not the real issue here anyway. It is time off to care for babies. Hell, time off to be sick for a day. These jobs have the least responsibility but have the most rigid level of service.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#100
post #77
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you point me to any historical titans of industry who regret their life's work?

This guy once gave at talk at my university where he said he regretted not doing a lot of things because he was working and now he was too old to do them because of his health. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Schulich

He sounds like someone who would give a great talk. I can see that happening for sure. I've devoted my life to a lot less before realizing there was more out there. These people put so much time into their work there's little left for a broad life - unless you make some clear boundaries like Mark is doing now. Maybe this will be a one time thing and, as you suggest, he may regret not making more time for other areas of his life. Maybe he'll manage to carve out more time for himself.
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