The US is perhaps the only country in the Americas which does NOT offer paid maternity leave

nebula

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:29 PM
Original message

The US is perhaps the only country in the Americas which does NOT offer paid maternity leave

USA is #1!

Err, maybe not.

We're worse than many '3rd world' countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave#Americas

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Berry Cool

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:32 PM
Response to Original message

1. Sad, isn't it?

And day care for children of working parents...not a government priority. The attitude is: Sure, we want you to have kids, but when you do, you're on your own. You can't count on one income being enough to pay the bills, but if you expect to get help with taking care of your kids while you work, well, good luck.

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:34 PM
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Berry Cool

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:42 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. I'm talking about the government in general.

I don't think the U.S. government's official position is that people shouldn't have kids. Especially with the way it promotes abstinence as the best form of birth control.

Of course, it talks out both sides of its mouth...it wants the rich and the middle class to have children, and pay for their upkeep entirely themselves. It wants the poor not to have children at all, but to accomplish this feat by avoiding sex rather than by using birth control.

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:45 PM
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Berry Cool

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:49 PM
Response to Reply #5

7. My, spoken like a true Republican.

Assuming that all poor people are imbeciles, and will only spawn more imbeciles.

And if you've never seen a policy designed to keep poor people from getting condoms, you've either been living in some other country than the USA for some time now, or you're way past time for that white cane tipped with red.

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nebula

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:56 PM
Response to Reply #7

10. We seem to have the greatest concentration of imbeciles on the planet

despite our lack of universal maternity care and benefits, not because of it.

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Mutineer

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:34 PM
Response to Original message

2. We're way down on the list for vacation time period

among the nations of this world. No wonder we die of stress-related illnesses at such an alarming rate. Gotta work to keep the rich richer, i.e., our corporate "leaders".

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Berry Cool

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:47 PM
Response to Reply #2

6. True.

And my concern about things like paid parental leave and assistance with day care stems from knowing that as long as women get saddled with the primary responsibility for child care, and are expected to be the ones to quit their jobs or go part time should they choose to have children, the road to equality is going to be long and rough. Until we see caring for children as something that benefits the good of society as a whole and not just benefiting those who choose to become parents, the primary burdens of child care are always going to fall on mothers, as opposed to fathers.

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nebula

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:50 PM
Response to Original message

8. The evil China and Iran

Paid maternity benefits:

China.......90 days 100%

Iran........90 days, 66.7% for 16 weeks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave#Asia.2FPacific

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KatyaR

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Mon Jan-21-08 10:54 PM
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9. Don't you know the country would collapse if we had paid maternity leave?

My god, what are you thinking? All these poor, starving corporation-personhoods would die a horrible death if they were required to PAY a woman to stay home with her newborn. How would that be fair? NO FREE RIDES! If a woman can't afford to take maternity leave, she should have never gotten pregnant in the first place! That would be so unfair to corporations!

:sarcasm:

Of course, if it was a man, I'm sure they would get unlimited leave at 100% pay.

Corporate America SUCKS.

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Berry Cool

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Mon Jan-21-08 11:00 PM
Response to Reply #9

11. Nah, are you kidding? Men are still lucky to get leave at all.

They're supposed to suck it up and pay the bills, don't you know? If they don't show loyalty to their employers first and their families second, there's something wrong with them. Mommy raises the kids and Daddy goes to work and pays the bills. If the kids grow up not knowing Daddy very well because he was working too hard to keep them in shoes, well, too bad. If they think of him as nothing but a giant wallet, that's too bad too. :sarcasm:

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nebula

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Mon Jan-21-08 11:48 PM
Response to Reply #11

12. The CEO needs the money for another yacht.

Mommy and daddy will just have to suck it up.

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