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It is a reality in Austria, I'm not sure it is mandatory, but eveeyone I know takes it. If you were previously employed, you can get up to 80% of your former salary for one year (up to a certain threshold). If you were not, there are several funds available that give a decent amount of money. The leave can be split between the parents, but I think the woman has to take at least the first few months.
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Yes, this option would be amazing.
Even just a mandatory 6 weeks would be major!If we had a year paid, we'd use it. Maybe have both of us home together the first 3 months, then I'd stay out through 9mos while DH went back to work. As it is in reality, we think DH is will take 2 unpaid weeks plus two weeks WAH and I'll take 6mos unpaid. And then we'll have a lot of bills to catch up on, haha!
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@lamariniere: wow, that's so amazing from my u.s. perspective!
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YES! I know I want to go back to work and I'm actually looking forward to it, but I would love to have the first year with my son. So many important things go on and breastfeeding to a year would be an easier feat without so much pumping at work.
I would probably take the whole year myself. DH doesn't like not working and that way I could nurse him all the time.
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I'd take at least 6 months, and DH and I would figure out how to split the last 6. So much happens in the 1st year, like PPs said, and breast feeding would be much easier. 6 weeks is not nearly enough.
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I wouldn't take the full year. 4-6 months would be more than enough for me. DH could fully take the rest with my blessing.
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I am in Canada and currently figuring this out as we are due in November. EI ( employment insurance) from the government gives us up to 55% of our salary for the year. I am a teacher and my division tops us up to 80% for the first 18 weeks of maternity leave. BUT none of that can fall on holidays.( summer, Christmas, spring break) So if I have a baby at the end of June then I do not get my top up for the 9 weeks of summer vacation. The remaining time of the 18 weeks would resume on Sept. Because we are due beginning of November I will only loose 2 weeks over Xmas.
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i voted just right, but i would probably take 8-9 months and split the rest with DH!
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I'm taking 10.5 months. And Hubs is taking the last 6 weeks. The big bonus to this is that it makes breastfeeding so much more feasible. I don't know how the pumping ladies do it for a full year!
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@MrsScottish: that is confusing! So during holidays, you don't get the top up, but it still counts against your 18 weeks? I'm a teacher, and my baby came in June-I would have been screwed, haha!
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@MoonMoon: yeah it is weird. I understand the summer as we are only technically employed sept- June. We still get paid over the summer but that is because they break up our pay into 24 payments instead of 20.
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12 weeks was way too short, but I think a year would be too long! I think it would be so much harder to return to work after so much time off. Plus I think it was good to put Xander in daycare. I would ideally take 6 months off!
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@MrsScottish: I didn't know that about teacher top up, most teachers try for summer babes to end up with 14m off that I know, but I had heard of that factor!
@MoonMoon: my DH is a teacher, and depending on baby timing would influence if he took time. Then we really looked into it with #1, and he wouldn't get top up (parental leave vs. maternity leave) so no pay vs. me off nearly fully paid. With #2 I will be off May 2014 to August 2015, DH will naturally be off 4m or so (broken up) in that time, and I get 93% top up for my time off (except the last month is one month unpaid I'm electing to take) so it really doesn't make sense for DH to take time unpaid.
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I think 6 months would be perfect. I don't know if I could remember how to do my job if I left it much longer than that.
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I would love a year paid off! However I work for an extremely small family business. I know that it would pretty impossible to have a full year off paid. I would love at least 6 months. 6 to 8 weeks just isn't enough! E and I are still figuring out nursing.
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@MrsRcCar: I think that's why it's smart for the government to handle the pay (with payroll/tax contributions like unemployment insurance) so people could be covered whether their employer is big or small. Also, it took me a long time before both the baby and I really got the hang of nursing!
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