Recently, President Obama came forward in support of government-mandated paid maternity leave in this country (you know, like other industrialized countries). In response to this, a Facebook acquaintance of mine shared the following thoughts:
"Love the thought of paid maternity leave (and it already exists)....but if this jackass thinks only women care for newborn children he is sorely mistaken. Maybe at his house, but not in the bulk of homes. Perhaps lazy men like him should do their job as a spouse and parent.
Sounds to me like Obama is one of those old fashioned men that think it is solely the woman's job to care for the child...sick"
and
"I'm of the old mindset that if you can't afford to miss work for maternity/paternity leave you probably can't afford to have a child....and therefore, should not conceive one."
First off, this "friend's" comments were with regard to President Obama's following statement: "The United States is the only developed country in the world without paid maternity leave."
The Politifact verdict of this statement is "mostly true," before elaborating on the ruling with this:
"Obama said, 'The United States is the only developed country in the world without paid maternity leave.' The United States does not mandate cash benefits to workers on maternity leave at the federal level, and just a small fraction of its citizens live in states that require it or work for companies that provide it. In that regard, the United States is very different than the rest of the developed world, where at least some paid benefits exist in every country.
It's worth nothing, however, that paid maternity leave is far from a universal benefit in many developed countries. In some, as many as one-third of workers aren't actually covered for cash benefits, and six countries don't meet all of the International Labor Organizations guidelines for providing benefits.
We rate Obama's statement Mostly True."
To garner a better perspective of just how different the U.S. is from other developed countries, here's a more in-depth breakdown:
Sweden: 56 weeks paid maternity leave (80% of wages paid), up to 13 additional weeks (a fixed rate)
Croatia: 24 weeks paid maternity leave (100% of wages paid), up to 34 additional weeks (a fixed rate)
Canada: 50 weeks paid maternity leave (55% of wages paid)
Italy: 20 weeks paid maternity leave (80% of wages paid), up to 24 additional weeks (30% of wages paid)
England: 6 weeks paid maternity leave (90% of wages paid), up to 33 additional weeks (a fixed rate)
Slovakia: 28 weeks paid maternity leave (55% of wages paid)
Hungary: 24 weeks paid maternity leave (70% of wages paid)
Chile: 18 weeks paid maternity leave (100% of wages paid)
France: 16 weeks paid maternity leave (100% of wages paid)
Mali: 14 weeks paid maternity leave (100% of wages paid)
Paraguay: 9 weeks paid maternity leave (50% of wages paid)
U.S.: 0 weeks paid maternity leave (0% of wages paid)
Not only that, but some countries have benefits for both parents to share paid leave:
Canada: 35 weeks
Sweden: 34 weeks
Croatia: 34 weeks
Slovakia: 28 weeks
England: 26 weeks
Italy: 24 weeks
France: 2 weeks
Hungary: 1 week
To sum up, the United States is one of only four countries which doesn't require a mandated paid leave. The other three are: Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea. In other words, my Facebook comrade was wrong about mandated-paid maternity leave existing in the U.S.
Also, especially in contemporary society, most families can't afford to live off one income. A growing number of women work, not only for themselves, but for the health and well-being of their families. So, it's pretty naive to believe that most healthy two-income families would be able to fully afford a child unless one (or both) parent(s) received paid leave - that or they both went right back to work following the birth of their child. Yes, after carrying a baby around for 9 months, the mother might be a bit drained. She may also want to provide milk for and feed the baby. It also might be extra difficult for her to let go and go back to work right away, especially with postpartum depression being a possibility. But, forget the mother's and child's health and needs. The mother shouldn't be allowed to take any time off work. Heck, she should be working while in labor. As for the child, he'll need to learn how to take care of himself one of these days - why not at a day or two old? How about if we shrink the pay gap between social classes (and genders) so a single mother or a family will be more able to financially afford a child without paid leave?
What I really found to be ironic about the before-mentioned individual's Facebook comments was that he attempted to come across as being in favor of women's rights (and power), yet at the end of the day, it's just the opposite. He doesn't believe in a woman's right to have an abortion. He doesn't believe employers should cover contraception in women's healthcare plans. He also doesn't believe in paid maternity leave. In other words, ladies, even if a man rapes you, according to this guy, you shouldn't be covered by your employer for the morning-after pill; if you get pregnant, you shouldn't be able to have an abortion; and if you have the child, you shouldn't get paid while taking time off work to take care of the baby. If that's not "pro-women's rights," I don't know what is...
http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article602644.html
http://womenandtech.com/infographic-paid-maternity-leave/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/jun/24/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-us-differs-developed-world-paid-/
"Love the thought of paid maternity leave (and it already exists)....but if this jackass thinks only women care for newborn children he is sorely mistaken. Maybe at his house, but not in the bulk of homes. Perhaps lazy men like him should do their job as a spouse and parent.
Sounds to me like Obama is one of those old fashioned men that think it is solely the woman's job to care for the child...sick"
and
"I'm of the old mindset that if you can't afford to miss work for maternity/paternity leave you probably can't afford to have a child....and therefore, should not conceive one."
First off, this "friend's" comments were with regard to President Obama's following statement: "The United States is the only developed country in the world without paid maternity leave."
The Politifact verdict of this statement is "mostly true," before elaborating on the ruling with this:
"Obama said, 'The United States is the only developed country in the world without paid maternity leave.' The United States does not mandate cash benefits to workers on maternity leave at the federal level, and just a small fraction of its citizens live in states that require it or work for companies that provide it. In that regard, the United States is very different than the rest of the developed world, where at least some paid benefits exist in every country.
It's worth nothing, however, that paid maternity leave is far from a universal benefit in many developed countries. In some, as many as one-third of workers aren't actually covered for cash benefits, and six countries don't meet all of the International Labor Organizations guidelines for providing benefits.
We rate Obama's statement Mostly True."
To garner a better perspective of just how different the U.S. is from other developed countries, here's a more in-depth breakdown:
Sweden: 56 weeks paid maternity leave (80% of wages paid), up to 13 additional weeks (a fixed rate)
Croatia: 24 weeks paid maternity leave (100% of wages paid), up to 34 additional weeks (a fixed rate)
Canada: 50 weeks paid maternity leave (55% of wages paid)
Italy: 20 weeks paid maternity leave (80% of wages paid), up to 24 additional weeks (30% of wages paid)
England: 6 weeks paid maternity leave (90% of wages paid), up to 33 additional weeks (a fixed rate)
Slovakia: 28 weeks paid maternity leave (55% of wages paid)
Hungary: 24 weeks paid maternity leave (70% of wages paid)
Chile: 18 weeks paid maternity leave (100% of wages paid)
France: 16 weeks paid maternity leave (100% of wages paid)
Mali: 14 weeks paid maternity leave (100% of wages paid)
Paraguay: 9 weeks paid maternity leave (50% of wages paid)
U.S.: 0 weeks paid maternity leave (0% of wages paid)
Not only that, but some countries have benefits for both parents to share paid leave:
Canada: 35 weeks
Sweden: 34 weeks
Croatia: 34 weeks
Slovakia: 28 weeks
England: 26 weeks
Italy: 24 weeks
France: 2 weeks
Hungary: 1 week
To sum up, the United States is one of only four countries which doesn't require a mandated paid leave. The other three are: Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea. In other words, my Facebook comrade was wrong about mandated-paid maternity leave existing in the U.S.
Also, especially in contemporary society, most families can't afford to live off one income. A growing number of women work, not only for themselves, but for the health and well-being of their families. So, it's pretty naive to believe that most healthy two-income families would be able to fully afford a child unless one (or both) parent(s) received paid leave - that or they both went right back to work following the birth of their child. Yes, after carrying a baby around for 9 months, the mother might be a bit drained. She may also want to provide milk for and feed the baby. It also might be extra difficult for her to let go and go back to work right away, especially with postpartum depression being a possibility. But, forget the mother's and child's health and needs. The mother shouldn't be allowed to take any time off work. Heck, she should be working while in labor. As for the child, he'll need to learn how to take care of himself one of these days - why not at a day or two old? How about if we shrink the pay gap between social classes (and genders) so a single mother or a family will be more able to financially afford a child without paid leave?
What I really found to be ironic about the before-mentioned individual's Facebook comments was that he attempted to come across as being in favor of women's rights (and power), yet at the end of the day, it's just the opposite. He doesn't believe in a woman's right to have an abortion. He doesn't believe employers should cover contraception in women's healthcare plans. He also doesn't believe in paid maternity leave. In other words, ladies, even if a man rapes you, according to this guy, you shouldn't be covered by your employer for the morning-after pill; if you get pregnant, you shouldn't be able to have an abortion; and if you have the child, you shouldn't get paid while taking time off work to take care of the baby. If that's not "pro-women's rights," I don't know what is...
http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article602644.html
http://womenandtech.com/infographic-paid-maternity-leave/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/jun/24/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-us-differs-developed-world-paid-/
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