I'm not sure exactly. Is the pay at 100%? In California you might be paying already into the state disability program, in which case you are automatically ent

I'm not sure exactly. Is the pay at 100%? In California you might be paying already into the state disability program, in which case you are automatically entitled to six weeks of leave at ~50% pay... if your employer is awesome they might cover the rest (so Yahoo might be covering ~70% of the total cost rather than 100%). As so why it is economically desirable: making/raising kids is a HUGE investment in time and money, but without children and involved parents you're looking at disaster 15-20 years down the line. It's desirable/viable in the same way that buying gas is desirable/viable to making your car run.