Maternity Leave Visited

No, this is not about the Lost episode. Though that was a relatively good one...This is about actual maternity leave. And about discrepancies across the world as to maternity leave. Now, I myself have never had the need to take maternity leave, as I have never had that sort of a job. But it will probably be an issue in the future, so I take interest in it now.

So, to start with, in 1993 or so, the Family and Medical Leave Act came into being. Basically, under it, employees of covered agencies may receive up to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child. There are rules, like the employee must have been employed full-time for at least 12 months, etc., but it sounds pretty good, right? That's almost 3 months of spending quality time with your infant.

Well, it sounds good until you look at other developed countries around the world, and even some undeveloped countries. Now, I have no idea whether these statistics are perfectly accurate, but whether or not they're entirely correct, they still illustrate a big difference...

For instance, the UK: "Working mothers are given the right to 26 weeks of paid leave for each child, 6 weeks at 90% of full pay and 20 weeks at a fixed amount. Women who were employed prior to the commencement of their pregnancy are entitled to an additional 26 weeks unpaid leave. After 1st April 2007, the rules change. All female employees will be entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave. 39 weeks of this leave is paid, with the first six weeks paid at 90% of full pay and the remainder at a fixed rate." ~Wikipedia

Ahem. Nice, huh? But that was an instance of average leave on Wikipedia. For an example of "generous" policies, we turn to Sweden: "All working parents are entitled to 18 months' paid leave per child, the cost being shared between employer and State. To encourage greater paternal involvement in child-rearing, a minimum of 3 months out of the 18 is required to be used by the "minority" parent, in practice usually the father."

Wow. Just...wow. 18 months? That's past sitting up, eating solid foods, crawling, walking, and sometimes talking. Think of all the milestones you could be there to witness, knowing that your job will be waiting for you when you get back. Amazing.

Bulgaria (yes, Bulgaria, of all places) has set a wonderful example with one part of their policy: "...providing mothers with 45 days 100% paid sick leave prior to the due date, 2 years paid leave, and 1 additional year of unpaid leave. The employeer is obliged to restore the mother to the same position upon return to work. In addition, pregnant women and single mothers cannot be fired." What? Pregnant women and single mothers can't be fired? That is ridiculously unheard of in our enlightened little country of America. How sad.

Even in Cuba (what, Cuba? No way...), Wikipedia reports a maternity leave of 18 weeks at 100% pay, and that legislation has recently been extended to paternity leave.

Now, I'm not saying that these systems will necessarily work in the US. Lord knows the government alone has the capability to mess up legislation for such, not to mention employers and employees alike. But I do think there is a very large chasm between what is typical in other countries and what is typical here. And why is that? I think it bears some examination of what we value in this country, and some exploration as to how our society views parenthood.

And maybe a move to Bulgaria...