Opinion Why doesnt the US have paid maternity leave?

[Jballer]

I got 3 months off when my son was born but that was the due to the state. I believe only NJ and Washington give any kind of extended parental leave, at least that was the case as of 2021. And in NJ’s case this will almost certainly be stripped away the next time a republican gets elected governor.

 

[Source]

As of now it’s left up to employers to provide. My employer provides 12 weeks paid paternity and paternity leave. Personally I think UHC would be far more beneficial to a greater number of people.

 

[Seano]

And yet, just about every other developed nation has it and their businesses survive. It's almost like we've been conditioned to put the well being and profits of businesses of our own personal well being.

As a side note, this is the same exact argument made when any sort of improvements in working conditions. Benefits, paid time off, higher minimum wage, mandatory breaks etc.

I mean, this all means higher prices for everything we buy and likely also higher taxes to subsidize it. People own small businesses to make a profit, not to be philanthropic.

 

[shinkyoku]

 

[erhnamdjinn]

Wow didnt know America didnt have it, our country maternity is i believe 90days for normal and longer of cesarean. Dads get 7 day paterntiy leave also

 

[chardog]

It is mental. I always shake my head when I find out how little annual leave (vacation days) Americans have. It's like 50% less than us in the UK, and that's just for someone like me who's like a mid-level guy. My superiors get like 45-50 days of vacation a year.

it is kind of sad the amount of days off you get when you're not at the top, not a fan of the overworked culture

as for this thread, paid paternity leave would be too much of a cultural shock if it were laid unto the employer, not saying it cant happen, but it would take some time to roll out and have businesses prep for that sort of incident, whether it means thinner margins, more workers, less pay, or avoid women altogether.

 

[chardog]

Wow didnt know America didnt have it, our country maternity is i believe 90days for normal and longer of cesarean. Dads get 7 day paterntiy leave also

we have paternity leave, not all places will pay for it.

 

[shunyata]

You basically need to get supplemental disability insurance BEFORE you get pregnant to have good paid maternity or paternity leave in the US.

It's possible to have partial or full pay from an employer, but generally unlikely at most companies.

 

[44nutman]

Imagine how many pizza delivery drivers would be fired if they instituted paid maternity leave.

 

[panamaican]

Because we're convinced that anything that helps the working class is just going be abused by "other people but not me".

You see it everywhere in the working world. A belief that even though Person X wouldn't abuse the system, he/she is convinced that everyone else would abuse the system and therefore the company shouldn't offer it to anyone, including themselves.

We basically argue for corporate interests against our interests because of an innate distrust for our fellow citizens.

 

[shinkyoku]

 

[oldshadow]

So then we don't have paid maternity leave like most other peer countries which have 3 months or more guaranteed paid maternity leave.

No and there is no way we should force companies to do that.

Do you think the company is going to actually pay for that. They are going to pass the cost along. Then they are going to force the other people to take up the slack the person leaves while out.

 

[RoastBeast]

Of course corporations take advantage of their workers and give them the least amount of time off. Problem is that people want to have their cake and eat it too. Yeah people in Austria get more days off. The middle class also pays 48% in taxes. There are pros and cons to both systems. You don't get to just have all the pros with non of the cons because you think it's the right thing to do.

If you make 100k in CA, you pay 32% in fed+state income tax. Rough estimate shows people in Austria work about 31.5 days to cover the extra amount of income tax they have to pay if they are in a similar tax bracket.

There's a balance there but it's school age level thinking to just think that we can be given all sorts of things for free with no negative consequences.

 

[Rational Poster]

No and there is no way we should force companies to do that.

Do you think the company is going to actually pay for that. They are going to pass the cost along. Then they are going to force the other people to take up the slack the person leaves while out.

So for some reason every other developed country in the world can pull this off, but America, literally the richest of them all combined, cannot?

Any company currently worth working for or doing business with offers some level of leave to both mother and fathers. Companies that are literally the most profitable on Earth do this right now.

It's clearly possible, it's just not enforced or standardized.

 

[oldshadow]

So for some reason every other developed country in the world can pull this off, but America, literally the richest of them all combined, cannot?

Any company currently worth working for or doing business with offers some level of leave to both mother and fathers. Companies that are literally the most profitable on Earth do this right now.

It's clearly possible, it's just not enforced or standardized.

Sure it's possible but who pays for it and gets screwed over because of it. Not the company.

 

[Rational Poster]

Sure it's possible but who pays for it and gets screwed over because of it. Not the company.

Yes. Literally the company. It's the cost of doing business in the modern economy.


Companies that don't offer good benefits to their workers get shit workers and can't retain talent.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

Because big companies are greedy. Some dont even offer leave at all unless you were there for at least 12 months.

 

[oldshadow]

Yes. Literally the company. It's the cost of doing business in the modern economy.


Companies that don't offer good benefits to their workers get shit workers and can't retain talent.

If it's great and people only want to work for companies that have it then it doesn't need to be mandatory by the government. The work force will accomplish it.

So why are you pushing for mandatory.

 

[Ponchik]

Because that's communism.

 

[Rational Poster]

If it's great and people only want to work for companies that have it then it doesn't need to be mandatory by the government. The work force will accomplish it.

So why are you pushing for mandatory.

Don't you think parents should be able to bond and raise their newborn?