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It seems a bit insane to me that pregnancy leave is something we Americans mostly leave to the discretion of employers. If we as a society care about it, we sho
by lquist 7y ago
It seems a bit insane to me that pregnancy leave is something we Americans mostly leave to the discretion of employers. If we as a society care about it, we should back it up with public dollars and public policy.
- r00fus 7y agoIt would require taxation and there’s a segment of the population and most corporations who would fight that tooth and nail even if it only cost a small amount in aggregate.
- walshemj 7y agoCompared to the UK the social security system in the USA is fairly generous so if that is affordable so would be maternity leave.
- lazyasciiart 7y agoHow on earth did you come to that conclusion?
- walshemj 7y agoAbsolutely compare what a single person gets on JSA to the much more generous Unemployment benefits lasting much longer than it does in the UK
- lazyasciiart 7y agoWow, you appear misinformed. Unemployment benefits in the US vary by state, in some states they last only three months. The amount you receive is based on the income you had before receiving it, so it could be more or less than the UK standard payments. That aside, unemployment payments are funded as a completely separate system to every other kind of welfare in the US and so they demonstrate nothing at all about how other payments could be afforded.
- mattkrause 7y agoAre you including the NHS in that comparison?
- walshemj 7y agoNo I was comparing US unemployment benefits to the UK
- dopamean 7y agoYou said "social security."
- mattkrause 7y agoRight, but neither of those benefits exist in a vacuum. American health insurance is usually tied to your job. If you lose your job, you can continue it, temporarily, through a provision called COBRA, but it is often outrageously expensive. In the UK, I believe you’re able to access the NHS regardless of your employment status (right?). Equivalent insurance would cost you hundreds of dollars a month in the US, if not more, and would have to be paid from your benefits. An apples-to-apples comparison between the two system ought to include that fact.
- mnm1 7y agoAgreed, but as a society, we clearly only care about babies before they're born. And we simply don't care about adults at all.