Maternity Leave: How long should it be?

[Erika]

Since there is a lot of talk about Sarah Palin going back to work 3 days after her youngest son was born, it raises the question. How long should maternity leave be?

[Danielle]

I like our system. 1 year, with up to 9 months of that year that can be taken by either the mother or the father. 9 months for adoption. Maternity leave is paid by the federal government at 60% of your pre-leave wages.

[Jeri]

Um, way longer than three days? :lol

I don't know exactly, but the 6 weeks I got paid under state disability insurance wasn't enough, and neither is the 12 weeks you can take off without losing your job (which a lot od women can't take because it's generally unpaid. I'm lucky that in CA the first 6 weeks are paid, most states don't even get that!).

[Jenny]

I think it should be more like in countries in Sweden. I believe it is 2-3 years there.

We have one year here and you get about 80% of your pay by the govt and continue receiving benefits from your work, but at times have to pay for it.

I know my last place of emplyment offered extended mat leave up to another year in addition to the standard one year, but its unpaid.

[Intuition]

I think 1 year minimum, absolutely.

[kcmomma]

While I would have LOVED to have a year, only got 6 weeks and that was only paid because I took sick time, I think 12 weeks would be a nice minimum. I have yet to read though that she was FORCED to go back to work at 3 days PP...but then again, how many mothers are governors when they give birth?

[boosmama]

i agree with jeni

something like the swedish system where you get a 2-3 years

[Jeri]

I'm sure Palin wasn't forced to go back, but some women pretty much are. If they don't have short term disability insurance and it isn't provided by their state, and they don't have savings to support them on leave - well, they have to go back to work. And most of them don't have the option to bring the baby with them like Gov. Palin was able to.

[Erika]

Honestly, I think it is crazy that you only have 6 weeks leave. How can that be good for the mother, let alone the little newborn? It takes a good while to physically and mentally recover from birth and pregnancy and lets not even talk about the tiredness. And it must be so tough on both mum and baby for the baby to be put in creche at such a young age.

I had 26 weeks of paid leave. and 12 weeks of unpaid leave. It has increased since then and most companies, even then would have kept your job open if you decided not to go back until the baby was a year. The government paid me a certain percentage based on my salary. Though, most companies, such as mine, will pay the full rate and just expect you to pay them the maternity benefit cheque. Our leave isn't perfect as cost of living is quite high in Ireland. But each mother has a mandatory 3 months leave.

I would like to see a full year of maternity leave available, with the ability to transfer it to the father if the mother wishes to return to work sooner.

[Beka]

I'm in agreement with Erika, and we have a very similar system to ireland- it's something like 90% of normal pay for first 6 weeks and then $225(ish) per week for the next 33 weeks, and they keep your job open for 12 months after the birth.

I'd like to see a better system as the fact is if you've been earning and relying on it for mortgage payments etc a drop to $225 a week from a professional wage (often $800+ per week) would be devestating (not that i ever experienced it personally LOL)

[Jo]

Do you all pay into a system or is the government fully covering the cost?

I am not for the government solely bearing the responsibility of other people's choices.

[Erika]

In my case, I had to have 40 weeks of PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance) payments made within a year on going on maternity leave. So, I went on leave on July 31st 2006 and the payments had to be made from Aug 1st 2005. To be honest, those payments were quite small but every worked in Ireland pays them (it goes towards our state pension and unemployment benefit).

It goes back to working with the family. It is seen as a vital part of the wellness of society if a mother (or now a father) can spend a good part of the first year at home with her child. And of course, it is very much to the benefit of the child, a future worker and contributing member of society.

[Beka]

No the employer does in order to maintain your services I do believe, they reclaim it from the government whom in turn have spent our entire working lives claiming 22%-40% of our hourly wage in taxes so yes, we pay into the system which allows employers to recover the cost from the government but in a very round about way- that tax pays for a variety of things, education, healthcare, maternity care etc (then we pay a seperate tax for services like refuse collection, policing, fire services in the form of council tax which is around $2500 to $4000ish a year dependant on where you live and a seperate tax on anything we buy at 17.5% included in the price of everything we buy) so no... no guilt at all at the government footing the bill of maternity pay here! LOL

[Danielle]

Do you all pay into a system or is the government fully covering the cost?

I am not for the government solely bearing the responsibility of other people's choices.

No, it's actually our unemployment insurance system which is a mandatory deduction from everyone's pay. It's the same pot of money that you draw from when you are laid-off. Not technically government funded I guess, more taxpayer funded.

[Danielle]

Oh- and you have to have a certain number if "insured hours" to collect. It amounts to about 6 months of work.

[boosmama]

was going to say what danielle said..

so we do technically pay into it, but its deducted automatically...and there for us to use just as if we were laid off or had unempoyment for some reason or another as long as the minimum hours are worked.

[Erika]

Canada has a similar set up then to Ireland.

To those who aren't comfortable with the government paying for maternity leave, should companies at least keep the job open for a mother for a certain amount of time at least, maybe using their own discretion to pay her? If so, how long should the job stay open for them?

[Kristen]

I'm not a fan of the idea of paying more taxes for this, seeing as I'm a small government kind of gal.

A 40% tax rate scares the crap out of me. Maybe if people were allowed to keep more of their money, more people could afford to have a parent stay home.

[Erika]

I see your point Kristen. But many mothers want to go back to work and shouldn't be penalised for that with the risk of losing their jobs if they don't go back 6 weeks after giving birth.

And certainly in Dublin, with cost of living so high, even a tax band similar to the US would still mean the majority of women HAVING to go back to work, even if they didn't want to.

[Christine]

I'm also concerned about how it's funded. I can definitely see the benefits to having a mother stay home from 1-3 years to care for their child.

But I absolutely don't agree with Dave's take home pay being reduced for this type of program. I also wonder how that affects a woman's ability to be hired into a job when there's always the risk of her leaving for a year or more?

[Danielle]

But I absolutely don't agree with Dave's take home pay being reduced for this type of program. I also wonder how that affects a woman's ability to be hired into a job when there's always the risk of her leaving for a year or more?

It's not an additional deduction, it's a part of our employment insurance system which anyone can draw from if they lose their job (for up to 1 year) or are off sick. It's similar to buying home insurance... if you never use it then you've paid a lot for nothing but if you need it, it sure does help!

[freebiemom]

I think maternity leave should be a year for both parents combined and like the idea of being paid from unemployment for that time. I'm paying into the system anyway so might as well benefit when I can. I do know several moms who have gotten disability insurance to cover their maternity leave but that's another expense that, personally, I don't want to incur when I could just as easily be putting that money aside and have it ready for when I needed it.

That being said, I work at a small firm so I'm not covered under Family Medical Leave. But I have a great boss who all four times has not had a problem at all with me taking 12-16 weeks. And with me knowing that I was going to be off that long, we made sure we had enough money to cover our expenses during that time so that I didn't have to use my sick and vacation time for any of it. So I was truly lucky. And DH always takes 2-3 weeks, again unpaid for the same reason, although he could take 12 if he wanted as he is covered under Family Medical Leave.

[Erika]

Christine, you don't get paid maternity leave unless you have worked for a certain amount of time before going on leave. If you haven't worked for long enough, your job is still saved for you for when you go back. you just won't get paid the benefit. So a SAHM wouldn't get paid the maternity benefit.

[Kristi]

I think at the very least 6 months. Giving Mother and Baby time to establish a bond and establish breastfeeding if needed. I can't imagine leaving my baby in daycare or with a babysitter after only a few weeks. I have been lucky to be able to stay at home.

[Jenny]

It's not an additional deduction, it's a part of our employment insurance system which anyone can draw from if they lose their job (for up to 1 year) or are off sick. It's similar to buying home insurance... if you never use it then you've paid a lot for nothing but if you need it, it sure does help!

In addition, it really isnt' 'that' much of a deduction and its nice to have that insurance incase something happens.

There were a couple people in my program who were laid off and this insurance paid for their re-education.