How The Zero Weeks Of Paid Maternity Leave In The U.S. Compare Globally

[laundry_queen]

9. It isn't excessive. It's a sane, humane way to treat families.

And it's not all 50 weeks mat leave. 15 weeks is mat leave and 35 weeks is parental leave. The parental leave can be taken by either parent, or split up and taken by both parents however they want. Plus, I think it's important to note that what you receive is only a percentage of what you would normally make - much like unemployment insurance. When I went on mat leave (15 yrs ago when it was only 6 months) I only got 50% of my salary.

I'm sure I'll hear someone whining about people who don't have kids don't get mat leave and how it isn't fair and so on. However, many of us in countries that care about others believe it's a long term benefit to society to offer these sorts of things. And I think the chart is wrong - I'm pretty sure Canada isn't the longest, I'm certain there are some European countries that have mat/parental leave up to 2 years.