It would be insane to demand the company to pay for the maternity or paternity leaves. That would be like charging money for elementary schools and forcing comp

It would be insane to demand the company to pay for the maternity or paternity leaves. That would be like charging money for elementary schools and forcing companies to also pay for thay! Small companies could collapse by just a few employees having kids at the same time. If the government wishes for the people to have more children, the only reasonable payer for the costs is the same as with all goverment spending - the taxpayer. Handing out a proportion of your salary as the maternity or paternity benefit will also make the it more equal and not cripple the incomes of better paid people.