Many in our generation are making the decision whether or not to have children. Parental Leave may play an important role in that conversation. Take a look at the article below for some interesting information on the subject.
Parental Leave Can't Just Be For Mothers HBR.org | By Avivah Wittenberg-Cox | March 18, 2015
Many companies and countries still seem to think that most children only have mothers. They talk about "maternity leave" and "flex time for mothers" and "on-ramping for new moms." Other companies and countries have moved into an entirely new terrain, where parenthood has become a gender-neutral concept. The example everybody knows is Sweden, where "parental leave" replaced "maternity leave" back in 1974, to "ensure that women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all areas of life." (Italics mine). So men and women are allowed to share the almost 70 weeks of paid leave. The kicker policy is that men are obliged to take at least 8 weeks of that, or lose the benefit. Or, in gender-neutral Swedish-speak: "Each parent is entitled to two months of non-transferable benefits." In Norway, it's 14 weeks. The head of one of the country's biggest employers' associations explains that the law "strengthens the man's position in the family, and the woman's in the workplace. Norway still needs it." But I know that referencing the Nordic countries is like ranting about some kind of unachievable dream for most of the rest of humanity. So it's heartening that other places are beginning to follow suit. Germany and the UK have both now passed similar policies. Italy offers new dads three months of paid leave (although new moms get five). The governments of Luxembourg and the Czech Republic also offer subsidized leaves to both parents. South Korea allows partially paid leave for both parents for as much as year. The exception - in fact, the complete outlier - on all these issues is the United States, where there are zero days of paid parental leave. There isn't even any paid maternity leave. The only other countries on the planet not to have any paid leave at all are Lesotho, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea. (If many countries are guilty of assuming children only have mothers, is the assumption in these four countries that all children are entirely parentless?) Continue Reading... |