Have you guys seen this? I haven't seen any discussion of it, and it seems to even be buried on the NYT website, which disappoints me a little. This is SUCH an important issue! I really hope this passes...it's about time the US tried to catch up with the rest of the world!
-
I hope this passes too, we are way too far behind in mother's rights!
-
This is great news, I hope it passes and will be writing my representatives for sure! This is how paid maternity leave should work (and does almost everywhere else), paid for by tax-contirbuted dollars and not by the employer which leaves it up to the employer's discretion and also quite a heavy burden on them.
-
Our society is so incredibly anti-family it really sickens me. As a new Mom it's really a sad and shocking realization just how bad it is. It's almost like a contest at work of who can come back the soonest. And the few Mom's who go out on disability or quit altogether are totally looked down on for being weak and not wanting to succeed bad enough. There is absolutely no support for working parents to take time off to be with a new baby. All the laws right now work against us, FMLA is so short and completely unaffordable for those of us who rely on a paycheck.
-
I saw this yesterday and was so excited!
Would this mean you don't have to take vacation days to be paid?
-
Do we have paid maternity leave in Canada? I actually have no idea since I will never have paid maternity leave anyway (I own the company I work for) and so far we haven't had any other female employees.
-
@pui: It's through EI, not the company. It's 55% up to a max of $501/per week for up to 1 year, depending on how much you worked. It goes up to 80% if you are a low income earner). Our company tops it up to 70% for 17 weeks.
-
@pui: Yes, through the gov't. You can get a year altogether. 15 weeks is maternity and the rest can be split between mom and dad. They pay 55% up to a max amount, I can't remember what that is. Your employer has to hold a position for you for a year. Some employers chooses to top up some of the pay, but most don't.
-
@Freckles: @ALV91711: Thanks for the info!!
-
@ALV91711: Hehe, jinx!
-
This is so awesome to see. I've never written to my representatives before, but this will be the bill that finally spurs me to do it. This is so important and the US is so far behind the rest of the world in support of families.
-
This would be great.... but it's a bummer it won't be passed in time for me to actually use it
-
This is awesome and one of my State reps introduced the bill! I really hope this happens!
-
@Modern Daisy: I couldn't agree more! I get so angry when i think about the maternity leave situation...it is such a disgrace! and FMLA is a joke
@Mrs. Jump Rope: I don't think you'd have to use vacation days - you should be able to just have the payments kick in! but who knows? it's an interesting question...
I totally want to write to my representative! sounds like a nice activity for me during my unpaid maternity leave
-
Amazing!
-
Sounds great to me!!
Just a note that the article seems to carefully refer to this proposed program as "family leave"... it doesn't seem restricted to maternity leave.
-
Definitely needed for all you American moms! FX it passes!
@mrbee: here in Canada the last 35 weeks can be split between the mom and dad...however I've only ever known one father to take some of the time. 99% of the time the mother takes the full year vs the dad for a number of reasons. I think we here in Canada can do a better job of making it easier for dads to take that time off....Though I'd be reluctant to give up any of my time at home with DD
-
@char54: In Sweden, 85% of dads take paternity leave!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/world/europe/10iht-sweden.html?pagewanted=all
They reserve a few months of the paid parental leave exclusively for the father... Germany and Iceland have done variations of that as well! (Not sure how they handle same-sex or adoptive families.) This has led to large changes in the expectations and behavior of father in each country.
-
@char54: my DH and I are splitting the leave! I am taking 39 weeks and he is taking the last 11! It kinda just worked out that way with my work schedule, but it's nice for DH to have some time with LO too. I only have to go back to work 12 weeks starting in march and then we will both be off for the summer together. But you are right, most of the moms I know take the whole year!
-
This would be amazing! I especially like that it won't be limited to companies of a certain size. This past year was tough because I had to save my sick and vacation in order to be paid on my maternity leave. I don't qualify for FMLA at my job, so it was extremely stressful wondering if I'd even have a job to come back to. I will write to my representative about this.
-
It would be graet if we ALL wrote to our representatives. This is fabulous and a long time coming.
-
@delight: that is awesome! I'm a teacher so wanted my Dh to take the last few weeks of leave so we would be off together over the summer but financially it wouldn't work
@mrbee: some guaranteed, paid paternity leave when baby is first born would be amazing! I hope that's where we are headed next.
-
@Pirouette: thanks for sharing this! I agree, it is BADLY needed. And you're right, FMLA isn't enough. I don't qualify for FMLA, and I get exactly one week of paid time off for this baby. I'm fortunate in that my department is flexible, and I really only have to figure out three additional weeks (we're on a semester schedule, and I'm due right before the end of the year). But seriously, what a pain.
-
@char54: DH is a teacher and I also work in the schools (SLP) so I'm just going back from after March break til end of the year. DH will have to go back to work for June Exams, but he doesn't mind that! I'm sorry you couldn't work it out financially. It's going to be hard for us too, but I need to make some money for a few months otherwise the summer will be really tight because I don't get paid over any holidays like DH does.
-
@LovelyPlum: It's a pain that FMLA only covers employers with more than 50 employees. I'm extremely lucky that my employer (private non-profit) allows 8 weeks of leave with an additional 4 at the discretion of our ED, but I wish I didn't have to use my paid time concurrently. I also wasn't allowed to use vacation time prior to my maternity leave.
-
So, with this proposal, you would have to pay into it?
-
@looch, yes, 2 cents per $10 in wages. A couple hundred a year it sounds like. Everyone would have to pay into it (not optional):
"11. Can a worker or employer opt out of contributing to the fund? No. The FAMILY Act is designed to be a national insurance program that is supported by every worker and every employer. -
I want to like this program, I really do, but it misses the mark because as a working parent, affordable, accessible child are is a longer term issue that I would personally prefer to champion.
-
@looch: I don't think it has to be an either-or. Personally, I think our country needs paid family leave AND affordable child care options.
-
Thanks for sharing this! @Anagram: I agree about the affordable child care!
-
I hate to be Debbie Downer but if Social Security is any indication of how this will go it's simply not financially feasible at this time.
-
@MamaMoose: We have a smaller-scale version of this in NJ right now, called " NJ family leave insurance". Each worker in the whole state pays into FLI (it's really small, like $2 a pay check) and anyone who has worked 1 year can draw it for family leave. Having/adopting/fostering a child as well as taking care of an ill family member or being ill yourself makes you eligible. The payment depends on your salary, with a max of $500/week.
The state of NJ doesn't seem to be good at anything (thinking back to getting my teacher's certifications, etc), but they managed to get me my FLI payments easily enough. Only took 2 weeks to process my application and another 2 weeks to receive the payment.
I bet the US could figure out a way to make it happen on a larger scale. I guess because I have such little faith in the NJ state government, I figure if THEY can do it, anyone can. Seriously, calling anyone in Trenton for anything is like beating your head against a brick wall.
-
@Anagram: I know, im so jealous of nj paid leave! It sucks that my dh pays into it but I'm the one who needs mat leave and there are no such programs in ny.
-
@LovelyPlum: I do qualify for FMLA and I get no paid leave! So I feel your pain!
-
@Anagram: how does that work? I have to look closely at my pay stub, I think.
-
@mrbee: my employer offers 6 weeks paid parental leave (mother or father), which I know is rare and amazing. If both parents work there, then mom gets 6 weeks paid and dad gets two weeks paid. Pretty awesome. I took ten weeks total leave because of this. Don't know how I would have afforded my maternity leave otherwise and I don't want to leave this job before having one more baby!
-
@cmomma17: That's amazing! I got three weeks paid leave, and that's only because I saved all my vacation and one week's worth of comp time/sick leave. I was able to spread it over three pay periods though.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
36 comments