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i would love to! but i know we'd be paying for it via taxes.

I would for sure if it was affordable!

I think 6 months is good but 1 year is too long. I wanted to work again.

Canadian chiming in We get a year off, at 55% of your current pay capped at somewhere around $46,000/year. It's actually just our employment insurance that kicks in (UI in the States I think). On top of that many companies offer top up, depending on the benefit package you have. I will get top up for 6-8 weeks depending on how I deliver (vaginally vs. c-section) and then after that it's basically a 50% pay cut.

@prettylizy: Another Canadian chiming in - I think it's 45% of current pay, not 55% (but I could be wrong...It's either 45 or 55).

My company only tops me up to 85% of my pay for up to 17 weeks (depending on when I give birth - I'm a teacher and it all depends on when, in the school year, I have a baby).

It has never crossed my mind to go back to work earlier. If anything, I've thought about extending my leave (I can take an additional one year, unpaid). But in the end, I've decided to go back to work. I miss it!

I think I'd have taken 6 months, then the part time schedule I have now (3days/week) if I could have picked my perfect scenario. I went back after 10 weeks which was SO soon, but I think a year is too long in terms of being able to transition back into work again.

I think 6 months would be the amount I would take. Like, you I don't think I could cut it as a SAHM. I fully respect moms that do but I don't think I could.

I would! Wouldn't wanna go back to work after a year though..

@chopsuey119: yep, I hear you! That's my problem at the moment! Luckily I can go part time til LO goes to school so I still get lots of time with LO

Hell yeah. It was horrible leaving my baby...and I work in the daycare she is in!

this would be a no brainer for me! to get paid to be able to spend 100% of my time with my family for a year? yes, please! i love my career, but i love being a full-time mom more!

No way, no how... couldn't do it myself... but I'd love to have 6 or 8 weeks off this time around if I could!

I would! I love being home with my little one and don't want to miss a second of this year that has been flying past! Just the thought of it saddens me...

I would like the option to be out that long, but in my field, I'd be afraid of being out that long. I think I'd like the option of 6mo paid maternity leave, then part time until the full year.

In Sweden, at least one parent has to stay with the baby for the 1st year because daycare won't admit any child younger than that. We get 16 months (480 days) paid at around 80% (or so) for the first 390 days - to divided amongst the both parents with a dedicated 60 days to each parent plus 10 days to the father immediately at birth. It's a little complicated and I know the law has slight differences when written in Swedish as opposed to what's written in articles online in English.

But it's a heck of a lot of leave and no one takes it all at once. We have the right to take leave until a child is 7, so you can essentially add on to your vacation days each year until then (if all goes smoothly). We also automatically get a small contribution (a form of allowance for the child) until s/he is 12 (?)

It sounds too good to be true, but we pay for it through taxes. From what I understand, we pay taxes on top of it (we get taxed for the contributions).

Everyone's entitled to it. What I love the most is that the companies don't penalize you for taking leave. For instance, my husband's new boss has been gone for a year on paternal leave and he's had a few more that were gone for long stretches at a time, all men.

It truly allows fathers to have an active role in their babies lives. And it was actually a main selling point for us settling here (it was literally in all their literature at the embassy)! If the system was similar in the States, I would be booking a flight now. But again, it's like this because we pay for it -- I highly doubt that everyone would be in favor of that in the States.

I am not sure I understand what people feel like they'd be missing by taking a year off of work...it's kind of like when you switch jobs and go to a new company, essentially, you start from nothing again, having to learn systems and policies. You're not born with your job's skills, you have to learn them, so for me, it's not a big deal to be away from work, as long as you keep your mind and skills active.

Here it is common to go on a sabbatical (fully paid) for three months after 10 years of service at a company. Between jobs, people routinely take 3 months off to travel. It's a totally different attitude in Europe.

I guess we are quite lucky in Canada that our jobs are very much protected while we are on maternity leave. I know it seems like raking 12 months away is a career limiting move but our laws in Canada really protect moms/dads who take the time off. Most people take 12 months. I am grateful I have this option and I will be taking full advantage of it. I hope one day are US friends have that option as well.

It's hard to think about taking that much time off since it's not the norm in the US right now, so I just feel a lot of guilt that I would be leaving my coworkers inthe lurch for that long. But if it was the standard, and my company would be hiring a temp to replace me, it would be easier to consider. I'd love to take six months off, long enough for baby to be a little older and sleeping better so I knew I could be more functional at work. I'm terrified of how I'm going ot function going back at 12 weeks, but I guess I'll find out in September...

Having been a SAHM for 18 months, I'd probably take 6 months (or however long the baby nurses). Once the baby was weaned and crawling, I'd want to go back to work and put the baby in daycare. I like the social aspect and the structure that daycare instills, and I didn't really enjoy being a SAHM. I'd rather make money and pay someone else to do it after I'm done nursing.