Is that really what the complaint is? Not that we don’t have it, but that what we have is pathetically low? I agree that 6 months to a year would be far better, but it’s inaccurate to say we get none when it seems that most companies do offer it.
4-12 weeks of maternity leave is depressingly low. 2-4 weeks of paternity is insultingly low.
People should be given a year. Paid. It’s really impactful for the child and family.
invertedspear@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Dasus@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The US literally has no mandated paid maternal leave, let alone paid paternal leave.
The U.S. is the only OECD member country—and one of only six countries in the world—without a national paid parental leave policy. The U.S. is also one of the few high-income countries without a national family caregiving or medical leave policy.
Do you not see how shit the situation is in the US compared to the norm in the developed world?
invertedspear@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I recognize how bad it is in so many areas, but I don’t have the experience of parental leave being non existent, which is why I’m trying to get others opinions and experiences. Like yes, it’s not mandated, and because of that it’s shorter than in countries that do mandate longer leave, but saying it’s worse than other countries is very different than saying it doesn’t exist. Unless we’re saying a lack of mandate anyway. I’d love to see it be a year-long requirement. Not even an option, else people will be pressured by being asked if they really need that much time, or veiled threats of missing out on promotions or raises because they took their time.
I’m not trying to defend the current system either, though it seems I’m being taken that way. I’m just actually curious how many people actually get absolutely no parental leave.
Dasus@lemmy.world 2 months ago
But it literally doesn’t exist.
This is about mandatory parental leave, because we know labour protection is necessary, because even with it, we hardly get to that level.
The Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and the United States are the only seven countries in the United Nations that do not require employers to provide paid time off for new parents.
How can you pretend your personal experience has anything to do with this? It’s like someone pointing out extremely high cancer rates linked to something in my country and I go “well I don’t have cancer so it can’t be that bad.”
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Agreed. And they do here in Denmark, by law.