Why do so many countries other than USA have wonderful maternity leave?

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   peeplesposted 10 years ago

   Why do so many countries other than USA have wonderful maternity leave?
   
   A large amount of countries take care of mothers after giving birth yet here in USA there is no paid leave unless offered by employers, which is not mandatory. So why is America lacking in this area?

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   jaydawg808posted 10 years ago

   I think it's because corporate America is only concerned with money and the bottom line. Which, in turn leads to paid leave which will only cover for so long.

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   retief2000posted 10 years ago

   Because America hasn't decided that it is the government's role to insert itself into the free will association between an employer and an employee or into the personal decision to get pregnant while employed - yet.  Those other countries have governments that routinely insert themselves into all kinds of activities that our government does not.  Those countries are uniformly smaller and have slower growing and less productive economies.  Those countries also tend to have much greater social stratification than America and a lower standard of living.

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      LongTimeMotherposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I have to question your logic here, having read these hubs ...
      http://aufait.hubpages.com/hub/Poverty- … rt-disease
      http://aufait.hubpages.com/hub/who-are- … of-America

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   LongTimeMotherposted 10 years ago

   America is actually lacking in quite a few areas, but for some reason most still think they are living in the 'greatest country' and fail to see what's going on elsewhere.

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   fpherj48posted 10 years ago

   peeples......I am not knowledgeable of the "maternity leave," or programs of this nature, in other countries.  Therefore, I'm not certain what we are comparing to the U.S.A.
   However, I find retief's answer to be fairly close to reality, if in fact, the "other" countries you refer to, are up to their eyeballs with government interference in all aspects of their lives.  ( we seem to have begun to get  "in on the running" in terms of this situation, but WE can defend ourselves and vote and demand our rights w/o being executed on sight.)
   
   If an employer offers their employees a benefit package or allowances of any kind, maternity leave, being one of those, employees know this upfront, before accepting any job. These are not required nor mandatory, which is why we call them, "benefits."  "Family planning," I believe is fair to say, falls under the category of common sense and personal financial responsibility....something very rarely taken into consideration by 90% of our citizens of child-bearing age.
   
   If the vast majority of working couples with children. were granted their most desired wish, by the Genie-in-the-Bottle,,,,,,maternity leave-type benefits would not be of utmost importance to them.  The reality is, statistically speaking.....working parents need and would much prefer, Employer Offered "Day Care" benefits and/or Facilities, at reasonable rates. 
   Point-in-Fact:  My son & his wife have 3 children.  For their Twin baby sons, Mon-Fri  8am to 5pm  & their 6 yr-old daughter, M-F (After school ONLY ...2 hrs)......they pay $2000.00 per month.  No, that is not a typo.  Think about this.  $24,000 per year.   If both of these young adult parents were NOT professionals, with high-paying jobs.....just try to imagine.
   My contention is:  DAY CARE is the business to OWN, wouldn't you say?

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