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I’ve been in Tokyo for more than 15 years. When my son was born, my then-employer - the Tokyo office of a White Shoe NY law firm - gave me 3 days paternity leav

I’ve been in Tokyo for more than 15 years. When my son was born, my then-employer - the Tokyo office of a White Shoe NY law firm - gave me 3 days paternity leave. Told me pretty much everything I needed to know.

poulsbohemian 4y ago
That's 3 more days than I got in the US... only way I got any time was unpaid days. Outside of some large corporations and government jobs, few people - even the women giving birth - get anywhere near enough time.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  A lot of companies will give you at least a month, even if it isn’t mandated by law. We have a family leave pay roll tax in WA, though I’m not sure how hard it is to use for paternity leave. Japan does much better than the USA on child care so the parents can go back to work.
  - poulsbohemian 4y ago
    >Japan does much better than the USA on child care It's great that the WA leg passed Fair Start, but it only helped the demand side of child care. So now if you needed help paying for child care you have the means to do so - but because the demand side is broken, you still can't get the child care you need. Unfortunately this is a trend in American politics on a range of issues - let's throw some money at one side of the equation, never mind the root causes of the problem. > We have a family leave pay roll tax in WA, though I’m not sure how hard it is to use for paternity leave. I'll admit - I don't know either, as my children of the Evergreen State were born before that came into effect. The payroll tax is a good start, but like many of these well-intentioned laws it leaves behind a lot of people.
  - carlmr 4y ago
    >Japan does much better than the USA on child care so the parents can go back to work. Almost any country does. If Japan gives you more freedom in something than at home, then at home doesn't give any.
    - simplotek 4y ago
      > Almost any country does. Spain provides 6 weeks of mandatory paid parental leave that come into effect once the child is born, and an additional 10 weeks to be used during the year.
carlmr 4y ago
>the Tokyo office of a White Shoe NY law firm I didn't know this is idiom. My first intuition was white shoe law firm meant you wear white sneakers instead of black leather shoes. I.e. it was more of a shady, cheap law firm. Interesting that it means the opposite.

poulsbohemian 4y ago

That's 3 more days than I got in the US... only way I got any time was unpaid days. Outside of some large corporations and government jobs, few people - even the women giving birth - get anywhere near enough time.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago
A lot of companies will give you at least a month, even if it isn’t mandated by law. We have a family leave pay roll tax in WA, though I’m not sure how hard it is to use for paternity leave. Japan does much better than the USA on child care so the parents can go back to work.
- poulsbohemian 4y ago
  >Japan does much better than the USA on child care It's great that the WA leg passed Fair Start, but it only helped the demand side of child care. So now if you needed help paying for child care you have the means to do so - but because the demand side is broken, you still can't get the child care you need. Unfortunately this is a trend in American politics on a range of issues - let's throw some money at one side of the equation, never mind the root causes of the problem. > We have a family leave pay roll tax in WA, though I’m not sure how hard it is to use for paternity leave. I'll admit - I don't know either, as my children of the Evergreen State were born before that came into effect. The payroll tax is a good start, but like many of these well-intentioned laws it leaves behind a lot of people.
- carlmr 4y ago
  >Japan does much better than the USA on child care so the parents can go back to work. Almost any country does. If Japan gives you more freedom in something than at home, then at home doesn't give any.
  - simplotek 4y ago
    > Almost any country does. Spain provides 6 weeks of mandatory paid parental leave that come into effect once the child is born, and an additional 10 weeks to be used during the year.

carlmr 4y ago

>the Tokyo office of a White Shoe NY law firm I didn't know this is idiom. My first intuition was white shoe law firm meant you wear white sneakers instead of black leather shoes. I.e. it was more of a shady, cheap law firm. Interesting that it means the opposite.