A friend of mine posted this on facebook. I think it's pure genius. I'm signing that petition. It's time for women to put the fight where it belongs - with the US government!
http://www.momsinmaine.com/2012/05/wake-up-moms-youre-fighting-the-wrong-fight/
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
I agree with that post!
My one caveat would be that the author kind of treats employee-paid leave the same as a government-paid leave. They are definitely very different in many ways!
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
This is a tough one. Yeah it would be great if the gov't paid for maternity leave... But our gov't already can't meet it's current financial obligations. And many of the countries mentioned in the article (france and germany for example) are in even worse financial straights than we are. It's great to talk about how wonderful this would be for mothers, it's quite another to come up with a feasible way of making it work. Lord knows Americans won't want to pay higher taxes to cover the costs. I also recognize that it's very easy for me to take this stance because I work for a large company with awesome maternity leave...
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
I agree with @mamamoose. How is this financially feasible? I support the concept 100% though!
honeydew / 7504 posts
@Mamamoose: I agree with you, but I for one would be willing to pay higher taxes for things like government-paid maternity leave and comprehensive health care. It's time for Americans to stop whining about all the things they want but aren't willing to pay for. We have to stop acting like spoiled children and start taking responsibility for the future of our country!
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
Out of curiosity, how much taxes do you pay? I'm wondering if there is a misconception as to how high our taxes are (I'm in Canada). For example, I make $50,000 and pay 20% of that in taxes. And another 1.7% for Employment Insurance, which is what covers you if you lose your job and for maternity/paternity leave. Now, if you make a lot more money - over $120K, you pay closer to 40% in taxes (I don't have an actual paystub, so I can't be exact, like I could with mine).
I guess my question is, is 20% really so much to pay? Or do most people in the US make over $100K and that's why they don't want the higher taxes? Or is it a simply a different philosophy (keep gov't out if my backyard)?
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
Below are the current tax brackets for the US:
Tax Bracket Married Filing Jointly Single
10% Bracket $0 – $17,400 $0 – $8,700
15% Bracket $17,400 – $70,700 $8,700 – $35,350
25% Bracket $70,700 – $142,700 $35,350 – $85,650
28% Bracket $142,700 – $217,450 $85,650 – $178,650
33% Bracket $217,450 – $388,350 $178,650 – $388,350
35% Bracket Over $388,350 Over $388,350
I'm happy to pay taxes in order for the government to provide things like defense, and public schooling, etc. But I don't want to pay higher taxes for services that I don't think the gov't would properly run. I certainly don't want the gov't in charge of my health care. I would rather keep taxes down and take personal responsibility for providing for myself and my family when it comes to things like health care, saving for retirement, etc. But many people have a different philosophy (see Eiko2010's response). But either way I think we both agree that you can't have it both ways, either you pay up, or you don't ask the government to provide for you.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
In addition to the financial aspect of where does the paid leave money come from, I do wonder about how companies are able to work around having an employee out for a year? I know in the UK they seem to hire a lot of long term temps and it all seems to work out, but it does seem really complicated. That said, I think our leave is horrifically embarrassing. My company does 6-8 weeks paid and another 6 weeks unpaid, I think, and I think that's fairly standard for a bigger company. But I personally will not go back to work and put my 3 month old in day care so I'll quit when my mat leave is up. If I could have 6 mos to a year, even unpaid, I'd probably come back.
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
@MamaMoose: Oh, that made my brain hurt. Might need an accountant to figure out the differences. One thing that makes it hard to compare is that we don't pay any taxes on our first ~$10000 earned (filed singly), while it looks like you do. Also, is there state income tax in top? Mine was both fed and provincial taxes combined. Sigh, it's probably trying to compare apples to oranges, isn't it?
grapefruit / 4800 posts
There's a lot of inefficiencies in all govt but especially the US govt, we don't pay all that much less but get significantly less bang for our buck.
I think much could be improved if there was more pressure on companies to work with new parents.
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