How does the maternity leave work where you live? Other social benefits? - Page 2

[dizzysmom]

I need to move. What were my ancestors were thinking when they left Norway!

I work for a small employer in the US, and they are FMLA-exempt. For maternity leave, I use my vacation, then whatever sick time I've accumulated, and then the balance of my leave is unpaid (and I have to pay back my employer for their share of my health insurance during this time, plus I need written permission from the company president to take the unpaid leave of absence). My state does not have any short-term disability program for pregnancy.

My unpaid leave this time around is going to be 2 weeks out of my total 6 week leave. With DD, I had 3 unpaid weeks. I'm already saving to cover the lost income plus the $500+ I'm going to have to pony up for the insurance.

[eclipse]

Originally Posted by Monarchgrrl

I'm in California and we get a little bit better benefits here. You can get 6 weeks paid at about 50% from the state for newborn bonding time. I work for a small company and they are quite generous. I'm taking 10 weeks totally off, then I'll work 6 weeks from home, gradually from part time to full time. I'll be paid for all of it except 4 weeks. DW is becoming a SAHM.

I don't know if things have changed, since I had kids, but you used to also be able to take 4 weeks off before your due date. I received 55% of my normal pay, but it depends on how much you make - there's an upper limit of what you can be paid. It's also not taxed, so it's more than 55% of your take home pay. My employer also provided an additional short term disability insurance for their employees, so I ended up taking home close to my normal salary. If you have a c-section, you get extra time off paid - I'm not sure if it's 8 or 10 weeks after the birth, but pregnancy pay is covered under state disability payments that are deducted from your pay, so if your OB considers you disabled for more than the standard 6 weeks, you can extend it (which is why c-sections automatically get more leave - I'd imagine other birth complications that require a longer healing time would count, too, as long as the OB can document it.

But in 2002, California also started paying for up to 6 weeks FMLA for people who weren't considered disabled. This means that fathers can take up to 6 weeks off in the first year of their child's life and get paid 55% of their salary (but I believe this is taxable income) and can use sick time or personal leave to make up the rest. Monarchgrrl - I don't know how it works for same sex marriages - have you looked into whether your DW can take this pay when she stops working? It seems like she should be able to since it's a state benefit, but I can't make any assumptions when it comes to stupid things the government does in regard to same sex couples.

As others have said, you can't lose your job during this leave, and your employer has to continue to pay their portion of your health insurance premiums, but you have to provide them with payment for your portion. If you don't, you can lose your insurance.

[~Amy~]

Originally Posted by myk

oh yeah.. for a complicated pregnancy you may also be eligible for employment insurance *disability* benefits (same $ as mat leave benefits) for additional weeks. so if you're put on bed rest early in pregnancy, it doesn't necessarily mean you lose all your after-baby's-born time.

I think it's up to 15 weeks before if your doctor puts you on disability. Also paid at the same 55% (up to the max).

[DanielleT]

Originally Posted by Jodie8

In Alberta (a Canadian province) a mother's job is secured for 1 year, and she is eligible for unemployment insurance during this time (up to $1800/month). If her job has benefits, the $1800 can be topped up to her regular wage. Fathers can also take a paternity leave for up to 37 weeks where their job can be secured and they can also receive the unemployment insurance.
All prenatal care/postnatal care/medical care regardless of age is covered by the province Dental care however, is not.

off topic but where in Alberta are you?

[MomofQTPie]

I should to move to Norway too. U.S. is the only industrialized country without a national paid maternity leave policy other than Australia. Australia has a 1 year of unpaid leave as opposed to 12 weeks here in the U.S. The 12 weeks of unpaid leave here in the US applies to companies larger than 50 employees. Outside of that, it is up to individual companies what they wish to do.

I have a decent maternity leave policy with my company. 8wks of paid maternity leave (which starts after 2 years of working there). I live in Boston. For childcare that provides enough hours for me to be able to work, it costs $2000 to $2300+ each month.

Here's a story on what the French do for moms. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/wo..._r=1&ref=world

Makes me jealous.

[clutterbug]

Originally Posted by Jodie8

In Alberta (a Canadian province) a mother's job is secured for 1 year, and she is eligible for unemployment insurance during this time (up to $1800/month). If her job has benefits, the $1800 can be topped up to her regular wage. Fathers can also take a paternity leave for up to 37 weeks where their job can be secured and they can also receive the unemployment insurance.
All prenatal care/postnatal care/medical care regardless of age is covered by the province Dental care however, is not.

Another Canadian here Just to clarify, the weeks of leave for father/other parent are not in addition to the weeks mom gets. 17 weeks are reserved for mother only as maternity leave, the remaining 35 are 'parental' leave and can be split between parents as they see fit, including time off concurrently.

As someone else mentioned, the 17 weeks for mom can be extended by 15 weeks before birth if medically ordered, paid out under disability benefits.

After baby arrives, the government pays 100 a month (taxable benefit) until the child's 6th birthday...this is paid to parents that work or those who stay at home, at all income levels. In addition, there is a Child Tax Benefit paid monthly, with rate depending on how many kids you have and your income level (if you are above a certain threshold, you don't get this benefit).

[katroshka]

It's really no wonder that Scandinavians are always ranked happiest people in the world... I can only begin to imagine how great it would be to start a family without all the financial headaches that come along with it here. I was just looking into childcare at my University and it costs about $1300 a month, and is only subsidized when a family makes less than about $4000 a month. I would love to have someone explain to me how a family making $48,000 a year can afford to pay almost a third of their income for childcare. Especially in a place like San Diego that is very expensive to live in. We make a fair amount more than that but I don't see how we can afford that much for child care. We are basically comfortable, we can pay our bills and our mortgage... but that's about it. And we live in a "bad" neighborhood that most whites and professionals wouldn't ever dream of living in, as we couldn't begin to afford a "nice" neighborhood. I really have no idea how I'm ever going to finish school now that it looks impossible to pay for childcare.

[Aliy]

one things I like with our canadian benifits is they don't say when you can start them. I had to go off work way earlier than I thought I was going to so I'll get 15 weeks of sick leave and then my maternity starts right after that. I'll be about 7 1/2 months when my atcual maternity starts.

[Aliy]

oh yea any you get $100 per kid till they are 6 years old and there is also child tax benifit that is based off of your income and a few other tax breaks

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by heatherr30

All that sounds great till you realize that the employer also pays a sustantial amount of the leave benefits for the first 14 weeks, and then has to mess around with temp workers to keep your position open for you should you decide to return. Unfortunately women of childbearing age here face a lot of discrimination and have trouble finding a good job if employers believe they are "high risk" to have a child soon. I have faced discrimination at my workplace during both of my pregnancies and I'm not sure if the benefits are just not worth it. After having a first child the mother has very little chance of finding a new job because employers assume she will want a second baby soon.

I have found this to be true also. Not personally but through work - companies that were bought by my employer and had to be integrated as far as hiring practices, etc. It was a very clear (though unwritten) rule that you shouldn't hire women who were young, recently married, or who you thought might want to have a baby anytime soon. Shocking to hear *female* managers explaining this, as if it was an obvious reason to pass up a great potential hire.

[heatherr30]

I have found this to be true also. Not personally but through work - companies that were bought by my employer and had to be integrated as far as hiring practices, etc. It was a very clear (though unwritten) rule that you shouldn't hire women who were young, recently married, or who you thought might want to have a baby anytime soon. Shocking to hear *female* managers explaining this, as if it was an obvious reason to pass up a great potential hire.

Yep.... it's illegal to fire a woman during her pregnancy or maternity leave. So, some companies figure it's better not to hire them in the first place. Must be doubly frustrating for women who can't or don't want children and find they are set back in their career, too.

[Twinklefae]

Originally Posted by Aliy

oh yea any you get $100 per kid till they are 6 years old and there is also child tax benifit that is based off of your income and a few other tax breaks

: and if you are broke, that can be significant. We have had a rough few years with unemployment and my DH in school, and receive a total of almost $400 a month for DS. When new baby comes it will be an additional $400.

I'm self employed and have not been paying into EI so I am not eligible for any additional maternity leave this time around.

[lizzylou]

I always thought my situation was pretty good for the US, but certainly not compared to some other countries.

I get the 12 weeks FMLA of course. My first week off is "unpaid" but if I have saved vacation days I can use those. The next 6 weeks are paid 100% (this is the part that I thought was pretty good!) After that I can use up any vacation days or go unpaid.

I don't plan on going back to work this time, but still this stuff is such a bummer. At the very least I think moms should be able to take off work for much longer - 12 weeks is not very long.

[Kreeblim]

Originally Posted by MyFullHouse

Is that in US money, or Norway money?!?
While it sure would be beneficial to my household of almost 5 kids, I would not be comfortable being paid that much for my choices. I already feel guilty about our piddly Child Tax Credit (though I do take it! )

I think coming from the US we view it as similar to our social welfare programs, but in reality the motivations behind it are different. Most Western nations have trouble producing enough children to replace the number of people who die each year (here in the US we BARELY make that number, but we do make it) so the heavy incentives in many European nations are designed to encourage people to have more kids and eliminate any barriers to doing so. Otherwise the population goes down. Here social supports are NOT designed to encourage people to have kids, they are designed to offer basic supports only in times of crisis, so the idea that things like our welfare or child tax credit might "encourage" people to have kids in order to collect those things is an EXTREMELY negative one. Other Western Nation's social support structures just can't be evaluated from an American point of view because there are totally different motivations for each.

It's more similar to our tax credits for things like energy efficient appliances. Our country is heading for an energy crisis, so encouraging our citizens to buy less harmful appliances and taking away the barrier of the added cost is in the best interest of our entire nation. Here there really is a culture of guilt when you choose to have kids and get some added social supports...in other places that attitude would be dangerous to the future of the nation.

I don't really have any strong opinions on this matter in any direction, I just find it interesting from a sociological standpoint

[the janet]

I'm nearly 8 months pregnant and after nearly 2 years of unemployment, I was offered, and accepted, a F/T position with my old parent company. I was hoping to further my career as a doula so I could stay at home as much as possible with the tot...but realized taking the job was a much better situation. Why? Because it's a unionized position, which means 100% of my health care is covered.

Not only that but apparently they are offering 6 weeks of paid maternity leave, even though I will not have been an employee with them for 12 months (since I was on their payroll more than a year ago, I'm considered a new employee).

In my book, 6 weeks is not really a decent amount of maternity leave. Hell, 12 weeks isn't either. But the long-term situation will be great for my family. I'm also hoping that I will be able to bring the little one into work part of the week for the first few months.

I can't remember if it's Norway or Sweden, but somewhere around there also has a great midwifery model of childbirth...and is incredibly tolerant of breastfeeding. Let's all move there!!