I agree that all companies should offer paid maternity leave. I also support the example of several countries who require paid paternity leave so the mother has support from the father during those first important weeks.
very popular position among the breeding class.
Under Yard Dog's plan of free unlimited maternity leave to ever-Y-body who ever wants to have a kid, if a pregnant woman gets maternity leave but then gives the baby up for adoption, would the adopting mother get maternity leave? Isn't that double dipping? Tons of women out on maternity leave all the time while I (and other people who don't have kids) pay for it.
hey yard dog, what do you think is going to happen to the gender wage gap with this plan that you propose?
I don't have a proposed plan personally. I am not one generally to support government regulation to any degree, but in this instance a minimum standard seems nice. I definitely don't support unlimited maternity leave, that would be ridiculous. I am unsure how much a mandatory maternity leave ends up hurting the businesses, whether this would lead to less women getting hired in certain positions, or if this directly effects the gender wage gap.
In a perfect society companies would offer this already and be happy about it. The company I work for gives three months maternity leave. In a perfect market, businesses would compete with their maternity leaves in order to draw in better employees. If we are going to discuss the benefit of nurture in the ol' nature vs nurture debate, it starts from the very beginning. Not to mention that the healthcare and concerns of new mothers doesn't end at child birth. The time afterwards is just as important.