There are great things about the US just like there are about every other country, our rich and militant Labor history comes to mind, but for workers, it is among the worst in the developed world. We work longer than our brothers and sisters in those countries, we have worse national health care, we have fewer benefits and job security, fewer vacations and we can be fired easier. Not to mention that we have to make a law so that can women can breastfeed their children without prosecution. Here are comparisons on maternity leave I copied from the comment in the previous post in case readers missed them:
France:22 weeks paid 296 unpaid 318
Germany: 47 weeks paid 123 unpaid 170
Sweden: 47 weeks paid 116 unpaid163
Norway: 44 weeks paid 106 unpaid 150
Spain: 18 weeks paid 294 unpaid312
Greece: 34 weeks paid 26 unpaid 60
Finland 32 weeks paid 16 unpaid 48
UK 13 weeks paid 67 unpaid 80
Canada28 weeks paid 25 weeks unpaid 53
US: 0 paid 24 unpaid 24
However, I checked around and found these statistics which are still revealing but different and the anonymous comment didn't give a source. Either way it's bad.
3 comments:
Those figures about maternity leave came from here
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/parental_2008_09.pdf
Thanks to the blogger that wrote about parenting in the US ( and generally) where parental leave and benefits are literally non-existent. What a sham , what a crime really. The US more than any developed country promotes the individual and the individual family unit as the bedrock of society. The notion that child rearing ( as well as health care and education) is a collective responsibilty is regularly viewed as "socialist" or "commie."
Single mothers especially are left to struggle in the absence of paid parental leave and affordable-god forbid- FREE day care. Then there is the
pervasive and punishing ideology that families without fathers are somehow bereft and children are doomed to life of poverty and crime.
The low income parent(s) especially are left to struggle.
I think working people need to organize around the demand not only for a minimum of 9 months paid parental leave , open for both mothers and fathers, but for free day quality childcare care, in a regulated environment, adequately staffed by childcare workers who are paid decent wages with full benefits and pensions.This leaves a option for parents whether 2 or alone to work or not, assured that their children are well cared forin either case.
Statistics abound that show that the first 5 years of life are the most significant years for physical, emotional and psychological development.
Yet parents are left to scramble, lives are stressed, frustration and worry can increase, all of this having a serious affect on the growth and development of a child.
We often talk aout the reigious right who rail against reproductive choice including abortion and who care less about the welfare of children after birth. THis is one more example of their hypocricy.
Thanks for the comments folks. This is really a disgusting truth really, that the US can't provide maternity leave, but the US lags in all areas of social services. There's an interesting article here about Sweden's maternity laws.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/world/europe/10iht-sweden.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
I think Wendy is correct to point out as well that the right grab all the headlines about the life of the baby and child and family values etc. But they are those who oppose it most.
It's the same with abortion, while we would stand for the right to an abortion on demand we must fight for the right for women to have children and not end up in the poor house or a life of their own.
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