Posted on 06/05/2019 3:24:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
Both Republican and Democratic politicians want government to "do more" to give parents paid time off.
"This is not a women's issue. It's a family issue," says Ivanka Trump.
"(E)very worker in America should be guaranteed at least 12 weeks," says Sen. Bernie Sanders.
"That's a very arbitrary number! Why not 14 weeks? Why not 26 weeks?" asks Independent Women's Forum analyst Patrice Onwuka. She opposes Sanders' plan, saying government one-size-fits-all policies don't meet most parents' needs.
When Onwuka had a baby, IWF gave her six weeks off with pay. She wanted more time off, so she supplemented her maternity leave with vacation time and "personal days." In my newest video, she says she was glad "to be able to customize the time off."
Of course, government programs are hard to customize. But that's where the U.S. is probably headed.
"Just us and Papua New Guinea!" complains comedian John Oliver, sneering that those are the only two countries in the world that do not require paid time off.
"It's disingenuous," responds Onwuka, pointing out that most American workers already get paid parental leave. "Seventeen percent," she says, and the number "jumps to 60, 70, 80 percent when you consider people have sick time off, overtime or all-encompassing personal time."
In other words, companies and workers already are working this out -- voluntarily, without government telling them how they must handle it.
"Paid leave is spreading," says Onwuka, and not just for high-earners. "Chipotle workers, CVS workers -- Walmart workers started to get paid leave."
Why would CVS and Walmart provide this voluntarily?
"For an employer to attract good talent or retain talent, they need to offer benefits that really resonate with workers. Paid maternity and paternity leave is one of those benefits."
Arrogant politicians claim they must tell ignorant businesses what's good for them. President Obama and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand both claim mandated parental would be "good for business."
But business owners know better what's good for business. Most, as Onwuka pointed out, offer paid time off, but not all do. Every business has different needs.
In truth, mandated leave is not only bad for most businesses, it's bad for many women. That's because such mandates could make hiring a young woman a risk.
"If an employer has a young woman of childbearing age in front of him, he's thinking, OK, I have to provide paid time off," Onwuka points out. He hires "another employee who's a male."
Sure enough, in California, the first state to mandate leave, a study from the IZA Institute of Labor Economics found women of childbearing age were more likely to be unemployed.
In Europe, lots of women work, but most work in lower-level positions -- probably because companies worry less about leaving those positions empty for months if the woman takes her government-dictated parental leave.
"American women are more likely to be in senior-level positions, managerial positions, than women in Europe," says Onwuka. "Twice as likely. And it's very much tied to these mandates around paid leave."
American politicians make it sound as if companies will face hardly any new costs if leave is mandated. "It's such a small amount of money -- the cost of a cup of coffee a week," says Gillibrand.
"$1.61 a year," said Sanders, sounding even more optimistic.
He probably meant to say "per month" and "spread over all employees" but even that's not true. In California, the estimated cost is already $12 a week. And government programs grow.
Can't we just leave government out of it and let employers and employees work this out to meet individual needs?
Apparently not, because now even "conservative" politicians want government to "do something."
Senators Marco Rubio, Joni Ernst and Mike Lee propose that parents be allowed to tap into Social Security savings for childbearing expenses.
But Social Security is fiscally unsustainable already. Allowing parents to take out money early will make that worse.
At least the Republican plan wouldn't be mandatory. But give me a break -- can't we ever say something is not government's job?
America's already $22 trillion in debt. We don't need another government program.
I will go with the 12-week thing on 1 condition. You will be hired at a lower rate than all your co-workers doing the same job. You will have to opt-in for this “benefit”. You have to pay for all your other benefits so why would this benefit be any different. A business is not in the market to be social engineers or a parasitic welfare state apart from the existing government owned and run parasitic welfare state.
12 weeks is just stupid. Would I like more time off? Sure. Who wouldn’t.
It’s just another “gibmedat” for politicians.
Unbelievable stupidity.
Psh, so many words. Just mandate a % female quota, like we’re already starting to do out in Cali. Problem solved.
Vacation time is fine. So is some regulated sick time. My office is closed on most civil holidays, too. Anything beyond that is ludicrous.
This is one of the reasons why I only hire contractors and part-time staff.
1) Young married woman interviews and gets a high-tech job. Does very well at it, and is given specialized training, making her very valuable to the company. She becomes pregnant after a few years, takes advantage of all the company policies to max her time with her child. At the end of that time, she announces she is quitting to be a full-time mom.
While I applaud this action and her reasons, it did hurt the company due to loss of a talented worker (creating a large resource-loss), and the time and $$$ to keep that position open pending her return. This is a net loss for the employer...
2) Young woman professional works up into a fairly high level in her company, marries after several years, and (with the bio-clock ticking) has a baby. She takes her allotted time and PTO off to be with her baby (company suffers with her absence). When the bennies run out, she HAS to go back to work because of the lifestyle she and her husband established (and refuse to give up).
She is torn apart due to postpartum depression and separation anxieties. While she has family to provide daycare, she has to eventually look for full-time professional infant daycare for the long-term. She has found the cost of this to almost negate what she earns (but not quite), and since they refuse to cut back on their lifestyle she is forced to go down this road. Personal and professional relationships are impacted...
They will eventually have to face the realization they are on a hamster-wheel that they can't (or refuse) to get off so they can maintain their lifestyle (but in my opinion at the cost of their child). Playing this out, the results are economic, mental, and emotional stress that will eat at them and potentially end in economic, health (mental/physical), or marital failure down the road. Net loser here is the family as a whole...
I have more such examples that I an not personally involved with, and all are sad due to the emotional and economic toll this takes on all involved....
:: Paid maternity and paternity leave is one of those benefits.”...Arrogant politicians claim they must tell ignorant businesses what’s good for them. ::
A business will offer paid leave for a woman to have a baby. The government will force a woman to have an abortion and subsidize it.
Happened where I worked: Gal from the Philippines was hired as a temp. Seemed to work out after a few months, so they hired her full time. Bam! Almost immediately she is preggers. Gets six weeks maternity leave plus her four weeks of vacation time. Meanwhile others have to pick up her slack at work as a replacement cannot be hired. Great policy.
Welfare mothers get decades of time off.
Some bad ideas are inevitable.
This is one of them.
Student Loan Forgiveness is another.
Traditional doctrinaire Conservatives had better lay in a supply of Maalox because the next decade or so isn’t going to be pretty.
The purpose of feminism, is to provide advantages to ugly lesbians.
The cost is divided between the employee and the employer as the employee is by law enrolled in what is called the Krankenkasse system. The fees are paid by both the employer and the employee. This is a much better system than the stupid 0bama care.
There are of course different systems in Germany depending on your occupation. My brother for example had a private insurance which he had to pay himself because he was the chief of the criminal police in the town he worked and live. He is getting an excellent pension from the city
I find paid paternity leave ridiculous and totally unnecessary
I thought Europe was the Greatest Country on Earth to the Millenials.
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