On paid maternity leave, U.S. on par with Swaziland. (Barf Alert)

AP/San Jose Mercury News ^ | July 31,2005 | Peter Svensson

[Past Your Eyes]

I really had to have the barf bag handy to make it all the way through this one. What a bunch of backwards meanies we are to not be in step with the world on this subject.

[ellery]

And yet our per capita income is higher than most other countries they mention, and our birth rate is higher. Hmmmm....

[zendari]

Paid maternity leave is ridiculous. I fully believe mothers should be able to hold their job for a given amount of time (say 2-3 years) should they choose to return, but paid absence? That's just subsidized by all the other employees.

[Past Your Eyes]

The reporter didn't bother to ask the "Dr. Phil" question: "So, France, how's that birthrate thing working out for you?"

[DAC22]

Illegal aliens are coming in droves for their kids to have American citizenship, just start paying them and see what happens

[DAC22]

Should have said: PREGNANT Illegal Aliens

[dufekin]

The French birthrate has risen sharply over the past few years because of a critical mass of unassimilated Muslim immigrants overly prone to material support for terrorist organizations. Muslim men often force unwilling women in these French Arab ghettos into unwanted marriages (often polygynous) and then pregnancy.

[Mears]

Unless your finances are abysmal(no car,no cable,no internet,no fancy sneakers,no big TV,no airconditioning, etc.) you have choices.

Have a baby,ladies,and stop working OR keep working and don't have any babies. Seems simple to me.

[LibFreeOrDie]

That's just subsidized by all the other employees.

Yes, in several ways. Some companies end up paying for the same job twice: they hire temp replacements for workers on maternity leave, who are collecting at least a % of wages, and no doubt full benefits. No raises for the other workers!

Other companies do not hire temp replacements, expecting other workers to pick up the slack for weeks/months. Not good if you work in a department with several maternity leaves happening at the same time or close together.

[Shalom Israel]

In other news, we're so far behind Rwanda in slaughtering members of rival tribes, we have a lot of catching up to do...

[digger48]

Ok. Only if the kid actually survives the trip into life, without getting it's skull crushed and shop-vac(ed), we now must provide Mumsy and Dadsy 80% of their pay, to .......babysit.

Just like the military, the Left only cares about you if you happen to survive, despite their constant attacks on your very existence.

[bt_dooftlook]

So, I must have missed the part that said "Do not have children until you and your husband can afford for you to take time off." Putting a 2-month old in day care seems like abuse - if you don't want to take care of the child, why have it?

[Vote 4 Nixon]

My wife has the AFLACK insurance, believe me it sure paid for itself when she had our two kids. We found out this morning that number 3 is in the oven, lol don't think that I haven't thought about that little duck waddling around saying.. AFLACK!!!!

[ellery]

Exactly! Now that would have made a good article: how is it that the US lags greatly in paid family leave, and yet has bigger, richer families?

[R. Scott]

There is more to quality of life than maternity leave.

[mumps]

So, I must have missed the part that said "Do not have children until you and your husband can afford for you to take time off."

Hmmm. So abortion's okay if you and your husband can't afford to take time off and the birth control didn't work?????

[Question_Assumptions]

My grandfather always said that if he loved Scotland so much, he would have stayed there. The ancestors of most Americans (barring those brought here as slaves) came her becaue they thought American would be a better deal than their own home country. If you think that some country other than America is so great, what's keeping you here?

[conservative cat]

One of the (many) problems with Canadian maternity leave is that it doesn't pay at 100%. It's all nice and good that they get it, but it pays tops 80% and goes down from there. Now, if I could really afford a 20% paycut, would I need to work in the first place?? (BTW, I am not endorsing the paid leave even if it was 100%, just pointing out a flaw in their "perfect" system.) I'd rather use my 100% paid disability, supplement it with some vacation time and then go back to work after a couple of months. I don't ever want to leave my kids, but it's a reality. (My husband is at home during the day, so they are not getting shipped to daycare.)

[Jim Noble]

Linda Strauss McIlroy, a first-time mother, is trying to get used to the thought of soon putting her 2-month-old boy in day care so she can get back to work.

What's wrong with her?