U.S Ranks Last in Paid Maternity Leave

[Straight Shooter]

According to a survey released Tuesday by the United Nation’s labor agency, of the 185 countries and territories it had data for, all but three provide cash benefits to women during maternity leave. The exceptions to the rule? Oman, Papua New Guinea, and — you guessed it — the United States. To make matters worse, more countries are raising the amount of money new parents receive while on leave and extending the duration of their time off.

In the United States, meanwhile, workers who need time off from work to attend to their own medical conditions or those of family members — including new babies — have the right to 12 weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. But that leave isn’t paid. And the law only applies to employees who have worked for at least 12 months at a company with at least 50 employees. A 2012 report from the Department of Labor found that 59% of the employees it surveyed said they were eligible for unpaid family leave; a study released shortly after the FMLA went into effect estimated that just one-fifth of new mothers qualified.

In the absence of federal legislation, several states have enacted their own laws that provide pay for new parents. California was the first to make such a move in 2004. The state’s paid family leave insurance law provides eligible employees up to six weeks of wage replacement leave at 55% of their usual weekly earnings. New Jersey passed a similar law in 2008 and Rhode Island did the same last year. Washington state signed a paid family leave insurance law in 2007, but it hasn’t gone into effect because it lacks funding. Paid-leave bills are pending in New York and Massachusetts.

A 2011 case study of California’s paid family leave by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that 89% of the employers surveyed reported that the state’s policy had either a positive or no noticeable effect on productivity. An even larger portion of employers found that the policy had a positive effect or none at all on profitability and performance, turnover, and employee morale. Just over 90% of employees in jobs that paid less than $20 per hour who took leave to bond with a new child reported that the paid time off had a positive effect on their ability to care for their baby.

“Common sense would tell us, research tells us, surveys all tell us that families really need to take care of each other without taking a big financial hit,” Bravo says.

http://fortune.com/2014/05/15/america-comes-in-last-place-on-paid-maternity-leave/

Happy Mother's Day

A more recent article to read in Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-01-28/maternity-leave-u-s-policies-still-fail-workers

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

 

[Deepcover]

Spreading American exceptionalism to the world is a cancer...

 

[Straight Shooter]

Spreading American exceptionalism to the world is a cancer...

What the fuck does that mean?

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

What the fuck does that mean?

It means he's a reactionary asshole.

 

[Deepcover]

American exceptionalism is the theory that the United States is qualitatively different from other nations. The king, the ruler of any country or an empire. Also can be associated with ppl who are considered very patriotic like that asshole in the previous post with the lousy top hat avi who likes to spread American pride...Give me a break.

 

[MMMariah]

We are the richest country on earth yet we have extreme poverty, homelessness, a shitty health care system that doesn't crack the top 35 in the world rankings, more people in prison than any other country and a government that doesn't represent the actual people, but only a few of the very wealthiest. So many in this country are flag-waving, god-fearing (one of my favorite sayings!) patriots who think this is by far the greatest country on earth. Most of them work thankless jobs that cut their health care or don't offer it at all, don't give them more than a week or 2 a year of vacation time and are at risk of having their pensions lost. My step-father just retired from 39 years at AT&T and 6 years ago they switched to an HMO. Then the Bush presidency took a giant shit on the average american and he lost more than 70% of his pension. His house was worth half of what it was 3 years earlier. He has 2 bad knees and his HMO won't pay for replacements, they want him to keep having surgeries to clean the bone spurs out instead, which means he's in horrible pain all the time. The doctors are trying to give him pain medications but he won't take them. He is essentially fucked unless he pays out of pocket for the surgeries which he cannot do. All from a company that makes BILLIONS in profits and spends over $135 MILLION a year to have stadiums and arenas named ATT park.

Unless we look at the European model for the AVERAGE AMERICAN and start to offer 6 week vacations, paid leave for maternity and FULL coverage health care included in the taxes you pay we are going to continue to decline.

 

[Deepcover]

Oldie but goodie...a bit long but best I could find on American exceptionalism

 

[GodsEmbryo]

We are the richest country on earth...

Not even the richest I'm afraid...

World's Richest Country by 2015 GDP per capita based on population size (the commonly accepted definition to measure wealth): Qatar (US at 11)

 

[Jack Davenport]

Not even the richest I'm afraid...

World's Richest Country by 2015 GDP per capita based on population size (the commonly accepted definition to measure wealth): Qatar (US at 11)

http://Mariah.Milano.Just.Got.Owned.Aninote.com

 

[Deepcover]

It means he's a reactionary asshole.

Who's the idiot now? Don't recall you commenting on the latest vids on American Exceptionalism...hmm?

 

[GodsEmbryo]

http://Mariah.Milano.Just.Got.Owned.Aninote.com

Lol... wut? WTF? :1orglaugh

 

[MMMariah]

ok we are not the richest country on earth. I actually knew that Qatar was the richest. But they only have the richest people which is actually not what I meant. I was being more symbolic and satirical than anything. You hear the faux "news" morons constantly proclaiming this "the richest country in the history of mankind" But I was misspoken. You got me.

 

[GodsEmbryo]

ok we are not the richest country on earth. I actually knew that Qatar was the richest. But they only have the richest people which is actually not what I meant. I was being more symbolic and satirical than anything. You hear the faux "news" morons constantly proclaiming this "the richest country in the history of mankind" But I was misspoken. You got me.

I have no idea why I would be owning someone with my respond of the US not being the richest. I'm merely pointing out that the excessive patriotism and thinking the US is by far the best country and a leading example for the rest of the world, is out of place. As you correctly point out in your post the US has some serious issues to deal with, just like any other country in the world. The US doesn't have a leading position in many fields, including not being the wealthiest.

 

[Jack Davenport]

I have no idea why I would be owning someone with my respond of the US not being the richest. I'm merely pointing out that the excessive patriotism and thinking the US is by far the best country and a leading example for the rest of the world, is out of place. As you correctly point out in your post the US has some serious issues to deal with, just like any other country in the world. The US doesn't have a leading position in many fields, including not being the wealthiest.

That's ok. When and if the going gets tough for you again, you'll be calling on us. Of that I am certain. Even your economy depends on what we do here and whether or not you eat.

 

[GodsEmbryo]

That's ok. When and if the going gets tough for you again, you'll be calling on us. Of that I am certain. Even your economy depends on what we do here and whether or not you eat.

Weird. Last time I checked it was the US calling for OUR assistance. Go figure, our "mighty" Belgian army and air force doing the work for the US in Libya, Irak and Afghanistan.

And were not depended on the US for our economics:

http://www.abh-ace.be/en/binaries/Continents 12m2014_tcm450-264334.pdf

I won't be going hungry soon.

I think now is a good time for that "OWNED" message.

 

[Jack Davenport]

Weird. Last time I checked it was the US calling for OUR assistance. Go figure, our "mighty" Belgian army and air force doing the work for the US in Libya, Irak and Afghanistan.

And were not depended on the US for our economics:

http://www.abh-ace.be/en/binaries/Continents 12m2014_tcm450-264334.pdf

I won't be going hungry soon.

I think now is a good time for that "OWNED" message.

I will hold off on the owned message, because if our economy fails yours does to. And so let's get this straight, you bitch and whine when we go unilaterally, but beat your chest over being included in a few sorties.

Save a continent from tyranny and get back to me.

 

[GodsEmbryo]

I will hold off on the owned message, because if our economy fails yours does to. And so let's get this straight, you bitch and whine when we go unilaterally, but beat your chest over being included in a few sorties.

Save a continent from tyranny and get back to me.

I'm bitching and whining about people circle jerking around their flag denying reality. Don't get so upset. And who says I'm beating my chest? We hardly have a fucking army left after all these cutbacks. If our government keeps cutting back on everything next thing we'll be able to send to our allies to help them out is a package of post-it notes... oh yeah that'll teach ISIS

 

[Jack Davenport]

I'm bitching and whining about people circle jerking around their flag denying reality. Don't get so upset. And who says I'm beating my chest? We hardly have a fucking army left after all these cutbacks. If our government keeps cutting back on everything next thing we'll be able to send to our allies to help them out is a package of post-it notes... oh yeah that'll teach ISIS

Get used to it. It's going to be around for a while, at least for my lifetime. The empire hasn't crumbled yet.

 

[MMMariah]

Its going to get even tougher after 2016 when the military gets cut back and we start spending more on domestic issues than being the world's version of captain save a hoe. Of course Hillary won't do that, but I'm hoping someone like Newsom steps up. He would cut the military spending in half and make the republicans apoplectic. It would be beautiful.