Parental Leave

Posted on September 2, 2008 
Filed Under Fathering, Parenting, Social Issues

I’ve not thought a lot about the paid parental leave offered to employees. Since we have six kids, you’d rightly ask why not? Well, I’ve taken time off but never considered any extended time away when our children have been born. In hindsight, I should have - and could have - taken more days away.  Too late now, though!

There was a report recently released that made me wonder how many newer parents think about paid leave. Here are two sentences to get YOU thinking:

When it comes to giving fathers and mothers equal access to time off from work to care for new babies, the United States gets a “gentleman’s C,” ranking in the middle of 21 wealthy countries, according to a Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) report presented to the Council on Contemporary Families in time for Labor Day. But when it comes to the amount of time parents are entitled to take and the provision of subsidies that make it affordable for workers to take the time to which they are entitled, the United States lags far behind most countries with comparable levels of income.

So, what reactions do you have? Have you taken off an extended period of time after the birth of a child? Do you wish you would have taken more days (weeks? months?) away from work? And do you feel any entitlement from your employer in this regard?

Originally reported at Marketwatch.com.

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