6 ms·

The solution to these problems IMO is to make maternity leave protected strongly by law, and make paternity leave exactly equivalent. Make no distinction by gen

The solution to these problems IMO is to make maternity leave protected strongly by law, and make paternity leave exactly equivalent. Make no distinction by gender when it comes to maternity and paternity leave. Obviously there's the associated job of changing perceptions around taking the leave, which will vary from country to country, but by making the risks associated by hiring a man no different from those associated by hiring a woman you move towards eliminating this gender imbalance. As an additional benefit, both parents are more likely to have time to bond with their newborn or newly adopted child and share the burden of early parenting.

denzil_correa 8y ago
> The solution to these problems IMO is to make maternity leave protected strongly by law, and make paternity leave exactly equivalent. Make no distinction by gender when it comes to maternity and paternity leave. In Germany, there's the "parental leave" (not maternal or paternal leave) [0]. The time period is 12 months with parental allowance : 2/3rds of your income - 300 to 1800 €. If the mother and father share the parental leave, the leave extends until 14 months. Of course, there are other benefits like child care etc. [1] after the child has grown up. [0] http://www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/KinderFamilie/Elterngeld/elterngeld-node.html http://www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/KinderFamilie/Elterngeld/el... [1] http://www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/KinderFamilie/Kinderbetreuung/kinderbetreuung-node.html http://www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/KinderFamilie/Kinderbetreuu...
- majewsky 8y ago
  > If the mother and father share the parental leave, the leave extends until 14 months. However, "sharing" in this case does not necessarily mean equal parts. The rule is "max. 14 months in total, but max. 12 months per parent". So a lot of couples end up doing 12 months maternal leave and 2 months paternal leave (not all though).
  - baxtr 8y ago
    This is also my experience. However, recently I have picked up more and more cases, where both take 7 months (more or less). Maybe just a coincidence.
    - dnnrly 8y ago
      I have a male friend that took 4 months of from memory. I'm not sure it's uncommon.
snvzz 8y ago
Note it should be MANDATORY for both father and mother to take it.
- jbob2000 8y ago
  I feel like that is "crabs in the bucket"-style thinking. Don't force men to take work off and impact their careers just because women have to.
  - snvzz 8y ago
    So you're against equality?
    - jbob2000 8y ago
      I'm against regressive equality. Instead of forcing men to struggle alongside women, we should work to remove women's struggle - that's progressive equality. Decrease costs of daycare and create programs to re-introduce child-bearing women to the workforce.
      - snvzz 8y ago
        Then we're back at problem one. As a company, I'd rather hire a man and save myself the trouble.
        jbob2000 8y ago
        I doubt most companies are that one-dimensional in their hiring. In any case, your proposed solution of forcing paternity leave means that, as a company, I'd rather hire single people.
        snvzz 8y ago
        Yet... single people can have kids, too. Best to just mandatory-castrate your employees.

denzil_correa 8y ago

> The solution to these problems IMO is to make maternity leave protected strongly by law, and make paternity leave exactly equivalent. Make no distinction by gender when it comes to maternity and paternity leave. In Germany, there's the "parental leave" (not maternal or paternal leave) [0]. The time period is 12 months with parental allowance : 2/3rds of your income - 300 to 1800 €. If the mother and father share the parental leave, the leave extends until 14 months. Of course, there are other benefits like child care etc. [1] after the child has grown up. [0] http://www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/KinderFamilie/Elterngeld/elterngeld-node.html http://www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/KinderFamilie/Elterngeld/el... [1] http://www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/KinderFamilie/Kinderbetreuung/kinderbetreuung-node.html http://www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/KinderFamilie/Kinderbetreuu...

majewsky 8y ago
> If the mother and father share the parental leave, the leave extends until 14 months. However, "sharing" in this case does not necessarily mean equal parts. The rule is "max. 14 months in total, but max. 12 months per parent". So a lot of couples end up doing 12 months maternal leave and 2 months paternal leave (not all though).
- baxtr 8y ago
  This is also my experience. However, recently I have picked up more and more cases, where both take 7 months (more or less). Maybe just a coincidence.
  - dnnrly 8y ago
    I have a male friend that took 4 months of from memory. I'm not sure it's uncommon.

snvzz 8y ago

Note it should be MANDATORY for both father and mother to take it.

jbob2000 8y ago
I feel like that is "crabs in the bucket"-style thinking. Don't force men to take work off and impact their careers just because women have to.
- snvzz 8y ago
  So you're against equality?
  - jbob2000 8y ago
    I'm against regressive equality. Instead of forcing men to struggle alongside women, we should work to remove women's struggle - that's progressive equality. Decrease costs of daycare and create programs to re-introduce child-bearing women to the workforce.
    - snvzz 8y ago
      Then we're back at problem one. As a company, I'd rather hire a man and save myself the trouble.
      - jbob2000 8y ago
        I doubt most companies are that one-dimensional in their hiring. In any case, your proposed solution of forcing paternity leave means that, as a company, I'd rather hire single people.
        snvzz 8y ago
        Yet... single people can have kids, too. Best to just mandatory-castrate your employees.