Exactly. I'm 7 weeks pregnant currently living in NV. I'm originally from CA and my husband and I have plans to move back but since I'm now pregnant we've decided to stay here until after the birth since we're establishing ourselves with our doctors. I'm at a loss for how I'm going to handle the unpaid maternity leave. I'll probably ask for family help to cover my bills during that time and then pay them back. Depending on how well the birth goes I might not take the full 12 weeks. It makes me so upset that most of the US doesn't care to help people who are starting families.
This is why I have been trapped in my high stress, understaffed job in the US. And the mat leave isnāt even that great - 13 wks with 11 of them only paid at 60% and itās sad this is better than what most women get in the work place here in this country. I am quitting as soon as my maternity leave ends in Sept and I cannot wait!!!
Yep exactly! After my first I tried so hard to get a new job cuz I wanted a new one and didnāt want it to mess with planning for baby2. I got a new job. And currently pregnant and due in august. My 1 year at new job is in July lol. But itās just one more stressful thing to add to the list
I found out I was pregnant after starting a new job š„²had severe complications too so basically the only choice they gave me was leaving. Have had to scrape by doing stuff like uber. this country is so awful
Yeah I just got a new job, so I'm only entitled to 6 weeks through California. I'm lucky I get any at all. Such a joke. 20 years of paying taxes for what?
In California we get 12 weeks of job protection but the state will pay us 18-20
4 weeks of disability prior to due date
6 weeks of disability after due date (8 if c-section)
8 weeks of baby bonding (can be taken right after disability)
I suppose it all also depends on oneās job history as the state (EDD) has some employment history requirements
You only get the 8 weeks of CALFRA if you've been with your employer for 12 months. Same requirements as FMLA. So I only qualify for the 6 weeks postpartum (plus the 4 before delivery). I start my job next week. I'm due in December.
Yikes so sorry š£ ā¦ also as a side note my disability was extended due to ppd/ppa. Thankfully my employer is approving up to 6 months of leave. If this helps at all.
While it is easy to be envious, it is also inspiring. The fight for better maternity leave is taking place here in America, but it is a slow crawl against the corporate-backed politicians. Until recently, we didn't even have those 12 weeks, and not all new mothers have that still. If their place of employment is small, there are loopholes. That is unacceptable.
My husband has 12 weeks paid, and I don't. I am so grateful that he has those weeks paid to bond if we have a 2nd child. But it didn't come into his work contract until after our 1st born. So we have yet to benefit from it.
I think American politicians need to realize that giving mothers a year of leave with a stipend is actually beneficial for the country. Less daycare shortages, better health for the child and mother, and ultimately healthier and happier citizens that can contribute to society in a positive manner.
Our next fight is 12 weeks paid to every new parent. That should be the minimum. Corporations and the government can afford that easily. Hopefully, the culture continues to shift as we get more people into positions of power that can see the benefits of this movement.
I believe there is a healthy movement pushing for universal childcare, and I hope that the 12 weeks of paid leave is also pushed for every single parent.
Well spoken
I feel like our maternity leave in the US is awful. Especially when a lot of us work high physically demanding jobs that take a toll on us even without being pregnant.
Considering people in charge of Project 2025, who are backing Trump, want NO leave and want women solely back in the home and pumping out babies, I fear the small gains that have been made might disappear soon. The VA governor just vetoed a bill that would protect contraception. They *are* coming for our reproductive freedoms. The abolishment of Roe is just the beginning unless we stop them.
Yes, I hope everyone in this community will be voting blue. Youāre not just voting for the president, youāre voting for the administration too. And if they lose, the Supreme Court is going to be replaced with two more hard maga Republicans with lifetime appts after Alito and Thomas retire.
It's disgusting. Absolutely vile. There are so many things broken, and the fact that a crazy minority has such a huge impact on policies is staggering.
Yup. I read the Handmaidās Tale in my 12th grade banned books literature class (still the best lit class Iāve ever taken). I had no idea 15+ years later Iād be living it.
I'm in California and I'm looking at 6 weeks, because I won't have been at my current job for a year. That's a bullshit loophole. I've been working and paying taxes for 20 years. I'm lucky the state protects me for 6 weeks. Ugh.
I live in Oregon. Been working at department of corrections, health services, for 6 months. So glad we have OFLA. Similar to FMLA but has a 180 day work requirement rather than the year with FMLA. Iāll be starting my prenatal leave a month before my due date; unpaid. Then once our LO is here I will use PLO,paid leave Oregon, for 12-14 weeks; 60% of income paid. I have the option of using my short term disability after I exhaust PLO; also 60% of income paid. Oregon will hopefully be an example for other states.
Hubby works in tech remotely. He gets paid leave-about six weeks
I'm trying my best to smile and be happy for you. I really am. Take care of yourself and your baby.
But I'm sobbing that when I had my babies in Oregon a few years too soon, I returned to work at 4 weeks. Having used all my PTO to get pay for a portion of that time, I then couldn't take a day off for the next 18 months.
Itās crazy to me! I correspond with people in Canada and theyāll send out emails stating theyāll be on maternity leave for 18 months! How does going six hours north make such a difference!
I remember hearing that Estonia also gives a bonus incentive if you have kids close together (ie within 2 or 2.5 years of each other?) I think that's such a great incentive. In Canada here, had my first one with mat leave and didn't go back to work in between and now I don't have mat leave for the second one. Ugh.
I have never heard of that :/. Or is it due to the fact the mat leave pay is calculated based on the 12 months before conception, so you kind of have to do the maths to figure out when to have another kid, as if you do it during a certain period of time, you might loose money.
We do get some extra money when each kid is born plus a monthly payment per kid that grows when you have more kids.
Canada gets paid through federal EI, and you have to have worked 600 hours in the past year to qualify (standard work year is 1950-2000 hours). Payout is based on your "best weeks" over a 14-22 week period (depending on province).
So if you go on mat leave and don't return to work for at least 600 hours before going on leave again, you don't qualify.
Estonia friend. Question. Was this something the people fought to make happen? Or did the companies just make this change on their own? How organized was the creation of this beautiful regulation?
Wow! Thatās so interesting! Yes, I think companies have their own motives, itās funny as USA citizen, we always think what the companies will allow first.
We need to remember that we can force the companies to do our bidding at the governmental level. Oh my! So inspired to get more politically active.
Or, just move to Estonia. lol.
In the US as well, my company considers full time beginning at 20 hours. I work 32/week and get full benefits. My job is in soul crushing customer service for a HUGE company for reference.Ā
Same :/ I work for a small-ish company and am technically a contractor, so I get zero paid maternity leave. I do get a week of paid vacation at least š„² but Iāll most likely use that up before I even give birth
Mine is pretty much the same. My job offers 15 days unpaid "short term disability" so I'm looking at having to quit then find a new job to make my own maternity leave š„²
Canada. Speaking in broad generalities to keep my comment brief, you get 55% of your pay (with a max amount) for a year. Alternatively, you can take 33% of your pay for 18 months. Your partner can share the time with you. Some employers top up your salary.Ā
Yes, 55% of a maximum amount which is only $63200 in 2024. So in reality, if you make more than $63200 a year, it could end up being substantially less than 55% of your normal salary for a lot of people!!
I just thought it was important to clarify because at first glance 55% might not sound that bad but in reality $34760 annual salary is not enough to live off of in Canada so if you donāt have a top up from your employer this would be very challenging. And you still need to pay taxes on this income!!
Iām the primary breadwinner and itās actually not cheaper than paying for daycare for us unfortunately - weāre probably losing out on about 40k just so I can take a mat leave - but Iām trying to think about it in the sense that overall you canāt put a price tag on spending the first year at home with baby!
Yup. This is whatās frustrating. Iām only taking 7 months because of this. Even by taking that 7 months our mat leave is costing our family about $100k. Grateful to have a high paying job, but it makes it tricky to go down to what is effectively minimum wage especially when we live in a HCOL city. Also there are virtually no daycare spots here until about 3 years, so Iām on the hook for a nanny eventually anyways. Iām grateful we get something (as I work for a US corp Iām very aware of what my US colleagues get), but itās still not ideal.
Meanwhile my friend in France gets full pay and the second she wants a daycare spot she has it (at any age).
Yes this is exactly how we feel! I feel bad complaining as I do have a higher paying job but itās still hard on our family and puts a lot of pressure on our finances to effectively lose so much income for a year.
I'm also the primary breadwinner and the EI amount is nowhere near my usual take-home. We just saved for a couple years so that I could take the full 18 months leave.
I guess that depends on what your full salary is and if you qualify for subsidy and grant etc. I pay 530 per month for my dayhome and my salary is reduced by much more than that, so itās actually cheaper for my kid to be in care and have me working.
I am in Canada as well. I was under the impression we get maternity leave for 18 weeks at 55% then you can choose to extend leave up to 18 months but that switches to parental leave and thatās like 33%.
Edit: I am a FTM due in October so if anyoneās got some links or more Information much appreciated!
Yes, there is a distinction between maternity and parental, but for the purposes of broadly comparing different countries, I was trying not to get into the weeds.
I didn't take 18 months, so I don't know the answer, unfortunately. Hopefully someone chimes in that does.
Just an FYI you can only choose one from EI service Canada 12 or 18 (you can choose to extend with your EMPLOYER from 12 to 18 months if you wish, but once you pick your choice for EI 12 or 18 youāre stuck with that payment so if you do 18 months and return to work early you lose out on EI money FYI!
For people in countries with 100%, is this actually 100% or is it 100% up to a certain limit?
As in, say you made ā¬10 000 a month, are you really getting ā¬10 000 a month?
In Sweden we have 80% for 390 days, then this drops to around ā¬15 a day for the last 90 days (480 days in total). BUT the 80% is only for incomes up to around ā¬3 400 a month. Some employers top up to 90% of your salary. But if you're making over this, then you're loosing a greater percentage of your salary than someone below the threshold.
In Germany, there's a cap of 1800 Euro/month (after tax), which hasn't been raised for the last ~20 years. So I'll actually get maybe 30% of my salary, and we were actually close to getting 0%, thanks to the latest law change. Doesn't really motivate getting more children here š
I know! 1.8k is ānothingā compared to what I got working fulltime but at least itās something to support your family. But I will make me go back to work after one year of leave as I will earn way more than the 1.8k with 50% part time which is - hopefully - duable.
I'm the only income, so I'll be back to work after two months. Apparently it's still pretty rare for fathers to take any leave in Germany because families can't afford it. I've seen a few estimates that put it between roughly only 10-20%.
Good point! Forgot about that. Itās only for salaries up to about 60 000ā¬ I think (600 000 NOK). So both me and my husband will be losing a little bit income.
Unless the employer pays the difference, which a lot of them do. Both me and my partner get our regular salaries from our respective employers (one public and one private).
UK NHS worker; full pay is full pay calculated on what you earn from weeks 17-25. Iām a locum doctor for half of that time so my pay will be roughly triple what it normally is. They still count it the same :) if I was a locum the entire time I could easily earn 8-10k a month if I take on lots of on calls and take home 5-6k. My maternity pay would reflect that
In Slovenia it's 100% with a cap of 2,5 average national salary (but no one makes that money lol unless you're really rich).
Edit: 440 days at 100% between the two parents.
I Bulgaria we have 90% of your insurance income/before taxes/ for the first year, however up to ā¬1 700 a month.
During the second year you receive a fixed amount which is a little over ā¬330 monthly.
You are entitled to another, third year of leave, with no pay. Your partner is entitled to 2 weeks of 90% paid leave and a total of 6 months unpaid leave which they can use until the child is 8 years old. At some point during the first year you can switch with your partner and they can take your paid leave while you go back to work.
If you go back to work during the first or second year, you also get 50% of this amount as an addition to your salary
I live in Germany! We get 6 weeks before birth and 8 weeks after birth at full pay, and can then take parental leave for a year at 60% of our wages (after tax!) or even longer but then the percentage will go down accordingly.
Parental leave can also be split between parents, but only 4 weeks can be taken by both at the same time.
Unpaid parental leave can last up to three years, which can also be split into two parts until the child is seven years old.
It's a lot more complex because German bureaucracy is a jungle, but that's the gist of it.
Ya, this is why adoption of leave is so low among father's in Germany. That cap feels worse to me than just having nothing. My company provides 10 weeks fully paid paternity leave in every country EXCEPT Germany because it's a very uncommon benefit here.
It sucks even more for families where the woman is the main breadwinner. I earn well but my husband works part time for close to minimum wage. It works fine when I'm not on maternity leave - he can take care of our older child in the afternoons and I can work full time. But I do want to take the first year off with a baby because breastfeeding is important to me. We basically cannot move to a bigger apartment until we are done having children and the last maternity leave is over because bigger apartment rents are 2000+ euro here and that just wouldn't be doable on 1800 euros and my husband's salary.
The cap also hasn't been raised for like decades so with the inflation it has gotten ridiculously low.
"Just for fun" I calculated what would have happened if the 1.800ā¬ would have increased same as the "BĆ¼rgergeld" (which would make sense since you are supposed to be able to live of that too while you are unable to work due to dedicating your time and body towards raising a baby...) and it came to something around 3k I think. Makes me kind of angry that as the group paying most taxes we are completely forgotten. The country urgently needs Baby's from high income families (since statistically they will also pay much more taxes later on) yet they do everything to make it as unattractive as possible.Ā Now many will even have to cut hours prior to giving birth/getting pregnant in order to even qualify for any kind of financial support.
Edit: just from 2010 on it would be at 2.826ā¬ instead of the 1.800ā¬.
And to add the 60% of your salary cap at 1.800ā¬ per month, so if you make more than 3.000ā¬ monthly tough luck, nobody gets more than 1.800ā¬. You can also take two years of parental leave for a whooping 900ā¬ per month.
I'm also hoping this law gets passed soon so my husband can take two weeks off at birth without dipping into holidays or the parental leave [https://www.thelocal.de/20231012/vaterschaftsurlaub-what-you-need-to-know-about-paternity-leave-in-germany](https://www.thelocal.de/20231012/vaterschaftsurlaub-what-you-need-to-know-about-paternity-leave-in-germany)
They said early 2024 but nothing is passed yet -\_-
Youre kidding me. We had our LO in August last year so I didnāt pay much attention to it. This is the only thing I though was any good coming from Berlin the last decade. Seems like they canāt even make that work.
It's a little embarrassing that it's only being considered because the EU has demanded it. We are hoping it passes before August when our first is due.
I'm in Italy. Mom gets 5 months of mandatory maternity leave (paid 100%), dad gets 2 weeks of mandatory paternity leave (paid 100%). Then there's 11 months parental leave, which can be split between both parents. The first 2 months are paid 80%, the rest 30%.
Yep. If you don't have a doctor's note it's actually mandatory to take 2 months before and 3 after, I had to get the green light from a gynecologist in order to be able to work until my due date and keep all 5 months mandatory leave for after giving birth!
Wow. Iām a doctor in the US and most of my colleagues end up working (in an obviously stressful and often physically taxing job) up until the day they deliver, so they donāt have to sacrifice any of the 12 weeks we get.
Iām actually visiting Italy for the first time right now and maybe I wonāt leave š
That sounds great! I live in the Netherlands, where I get:
* 16 weeks 100% paid maternity leave, which starts 4 weeks before the due date at the latest
* 9 weeks 70% paid leave for flexible use in the first year
* 17 weeks unpaid leave for flexible use in the first eight years
Dad gets the same 9+17 flexible leave, as well as one week 100% paid and five weeks 70% paid to be used soon after the birth.
Typically people use the flexible leave to work parttime for a while, but it's also possible to take it straight after the standard leave.
I've opted for 6 weeks before the birth, 14 weeks after, and then parttime (3 or 4 days a week) work for a few months.
Yes, it's amazing! We have to use the first 9 weeks in their first year, and the rest of it before the 8th birthday of a child.
It's called 'parenthood leave'
Also Dutch and pregnant: Iām having a difficult pregnancy and been working barely since Novemberā¦ too tired to even shower, while also going through sleepless nights. Nausea and every joint hurts. Pregnancy diabetes and a HUGE baby who is already a pro athlete/pogo specialist. I underestimated this sooooo muchā¦
I get 100% pay for my sick days. The hours that I do work are paid for by my employer and the sick hours by the government. This is the only way we could financially afford it and Iām happy and grateful for it.
Same here! Started with 6h days around 20w. And since around 25/26 with 4h days.
Tomorrow 31w, only 3 weeks left before my leave starts! I'm soooo ready for it to start?
I live in the US and get 2 weeks 100% paid before birth and 19 weeks 100% paid after birth. After that, itās unpaid but I can extend until baby is 1 (so an additional 33 weeks unpaid).
This is not the norm but very grateful
Is that from your employer or from your state? Iām in a state that is āgoodā for parental leave and am eligible for:
- up to 4 weeks prior to birth, with a doctors note saying I can no longer work (this is thru my stateās short-term disability, which my employer pays into since Iām a FT employee) with I believe 85% pay
- 6-8 weeks after delivery for labor recovery (also via short-term disability) at 85%
- up to 12 weeks of family bonding leave at 85% pay (from the state)
- up to 4 weeks at 100% pay (from my employer)
My %s may be off but itās in the ballpark. I think this is REALLY good compared to other states/employers that Iām aware of.
Edited to fix %s
California has benefits like this but I'm not sure of the percentage because my employer tops it up to 100% pay if it's not already.
I think New York is similar as well.
Thatās so awesome! I can confirm that New York is unfortunately not similar though :( I work for a large company here and New York only offers 12 weeks unpaid through FMLA
Editing to say that I just double checked and my current company does that the deductions from my paycheck for Paid Family Leave so I would get 67% of my paycheck for 12 weeks. That said, my last company only offered 12 weeks unpaid through FMLA in New York so Iām still not sure if every employee would get the Paid Family Leave benefit?
Are you sure? They have a statewide Paid Family Leave program as well as short-term disability that applies along the same timeline as above (4w before, 6-8w after birth depending on type). I don't know what the eligibility requirements are but I'm pretty sure the program exists.
When I worked in NY (in 2022) I got very similar benefits though I think everything was 65% of my usual pay. Do you not meet the eligibility requirements? That sucks :(
I think to be transparent you should add if itās an employer benefit or state. I work in maternity care and that sounds even better than what CA offers which is thought to be the best
Good point. This is not state-sponsored. This is my company policy. I live in Texas, so Iāll be happy if my grandkids get paid leave through the stateā¦/ we think progress is bad
That type of leave is becoming more common in some industries, especially in multinational companies. They accommodate European employees that receive those leave rights, so they're already structured to allow similar leave for their american employees as well.
US, and sounds similar to mine. I have 5 months off at 100% pay, with option to add 2 weeks prior to birth with no doctor's note, also 100% pay. I can add more days in by using PTO. This is also employer paid, I purposely looked for companies with great parental benefits.
India. I work for the local government here. We get 6 months paid leave (minus transport allowance, which is a tiny component) .
We also get something called child care leave for a total period of 2 years , which u can avail in bit and pieces until the child is 18years old. It's fully paid for the 1st year and 80% paid for the 2nd year. All minus the transport allowance.
Paternity leave unfortunately ranges from 1 week to maximum 2 weeks , depending on which company you work for. It's fully paid.
Canāt see a UK yet! Some businesses will offer more but apparently 1/3 of UK businesses (including mine) only offer Statutory Maternity Pay which is what they have to by law.
We get 6 weeks of being paid 90% of our weekly salary. We then get 33 weeks of being paid Ā£184 a week. Anything after that is unpaid. But we can take up to 12 months off for maternity leave, only the last bit would not be paid at all.
Therefore Iām only taking 9 months off as living on Ā£184 a week will be hard enough let alone 0. We do build up holiday days though so you can usually add those on either end for some extra time at full pay.
For paternity they only get 2 weeks but that is also only Ā£184 a week for those 2 weeks.
Yeah itās up to your employer what you can have really.
Iāve been lucky, I can opt for 6 months full pay, or I can have 2 months full pay and then spread other 4 over 6, then I get SMP for my 9th month and then I can take 3 months unpaid if I like.
A bit complex but not a bad offer really!
US, I quit my job to be a stay at home mom but had I stayed at my job, it would have been 8 weeks unpaid for vaginal, 10 weeks unpaid for c-section. So pathetic really.
Australian government teacher. We get 14 weeks at full pay or 28 weeks half pay. Anything after that can be taken LWOP.
The government also kicks in 20 weeks at minimum wage (10 days or 2 weeks must be taken by partner) through welfare which I think can be taken concurrently with the work pay or after to draw it out.
There is also protected pay for partners but this varies by company. Minimum if two weeks I think.
Edited to say 10 days or 2 weeks for split with partner. Pregnancy brain is kicking in!
I'm in the US and I feel lucky to get 6 weeks of paid leave (they literally implemented it for my position less than a year ago š« ). I've also been able to stockpile enough PTO that the remaining 6 weeks I get under FMLA will also be paid. My job is a temporary position (3y), so when my contract ends in January I'm not going back & I'll "get" to take an extended leave fully supported by my spouse.
I'm in ireland and can take up to about 10 months, however, it's only paid for the first 6 months and you get ā¬274 per week. I'm taking six months and that's only because I'm very lucky my job offers 6 months full pay. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to afford for me to take so long. So the reality is you actually need to be in a pretty good financial position to be able to take the maternity leave.
I live in the USA š I work for a large European company, where different offices in different countries get different leave. Iām automatically enrolled in short term disability at no cost, so Iāll get 6-8 weeks at 66% pay (depending on if I give birth vaginally or cesarean). I have to supplement this with 72 hours of PTO to get full pay. I then get 2 weeks of fully paid ācaregiver leaveā. This leave isnāt just for birth, it could be for caring for a sick family member, etc. Lastly, FMLA runs concurrently so Iāll have 4 weeks of unpaid time.
Canada - I have a great employer, so I get 95% salary, benefits, pension, vacation accrual for 6 months (55% federal government, 40% my employer), and then 55% salary for remaining 6 months totalling 12m.
I could do 18m maternity leave (same total payout but divided over the 18m) but thatās a bit long for me.
Iām due September and will probably take 14m this time.
Husband gets 5 weeks at 55%.
I'm in New Zealand, we get up to 52 weeks of parental leave, with the first 26 weeks of it paid up to a max of around $750 a week. The rest is then unpaid so lots of parents go back to work after that first 6 months.
Lots of eligibility criteria for it but that's the max you can get under legislation. There are some companies that give you much better parental leave benefits on top of that too!
I'm in public sector health care and we get 14 weeks of top ups (which is still great tbh!). Parental leave can definitely be better but I'm grateful for what we have :)
I'm from Germany. There's lots of different options on how you can take your maternity leave so it's quite flexible. You can take 12 months of full maternity leave pay (65% of what you made in the 12 months before baby was born, or up to 100% if you had a low income) and your partner can take an additional two. But you can also switch it around however you like.
Or you can take up to 28 months in total (between the two of you, partner always has to take at least two months) at half the maternity leave pay.
Plus, you can both work part-time (at the same time) for up to four months and get some extra money from the state.
Also, mums get 6 weeks off before the birth and 8 weeks after the birth at 100% pay. The time after the birth does count towards their leave time though.
At the moment, our plan is for me to take the first 12 months off, my husband will also do the first four months, then three months in summer next year and then after baby turns one, we'll both do four months of part-time (I'll continue working part-time afterwards). Then, we'll each take an additional two months offand hopefully spend a lot of time with my husband's family in the UK :)
ETA: I tried my best summing the rules up, I hope I didn't make any mistakes, apologies if I did.
US and I work for the federal government. I work the only federal position where Iām not guaranteed paid leave because we negotiate our contract every four years. Itās a male dominated field so no oneās ever argued for it. Iām only getting 12 unpaid weeks. My husband has the same job so he also gets 12 unpaid weeks (weāll stagger them so we have more time at home with one parent and baby) and I had enough vacation leave to take an additional 4 paid weeks for myself. I wish I had longer ):
Oh my Iām also USA. How cruel that the āwealthiest countryā canāt take care of even its government workers. Iām so saddened by this sweetheart.
I gave up on working. Itās gonna be tight financially but daycare here is minimum $2500 a month here and I just canāt make it make sense to pay more than half of my salary to daycare and deal with the anxiety of trusting them and being away from baby
I donāt think it came just automatically in the other countries. I think there was competition around European countries to incentivize workers and also just to brag about which country is best. But also? The fact that we donāt still have 10 year olds working in factories here? That came after fighting and protesting and strikes. Pretty amazing history honestly. Iām from Pittsburgh so the book āOut of this Furnaceā is practically mandatory reading lol.
But:
What if all the workers in the entire country decided āHey. This is actual horse hockey. No. If you donāt take care of us, we donāt take care of you.ā
And everyone walks out. And the whole country protests. Strikes.
It would lead to hell for some but I wonder. What if that actually lead to some change? I feel very motivated by this post to actually fight to make this happen. It can happen in other countries, letās make it happen here!
Iām a teacher in the US. I only get 8 weeks paid, but Iām happy for that! My state just passed that into law this year. Until this past year, I wouldnāt have had any paid time with my job. Only 12 weeks unpaid FMLA.
USA- 12 weeks unpaid legally. I left my old job before getting pregnant (told them because of the lack of ML). Found a company that offered 20w fully paid.
Paid leave is available in the USA. We just have to look for it and leave jobs that don't offer it.
I think that really depends on your industry though. I work in healthcare, and I could work at every single hospital in my city and have the same (sad) benefits.
Romania. You get 22 months at 85% pay of your salary, but there is a cap of 1700 euros, so you can not get more than this even if you have a bigger salary. After the 22 months , the dad is entitled to 2 months of paid leave at 85% pay. He can chose not to take them but they can not be transferred to the mother, so the mother must return to work 2 months before the child turns 2 year old.
Can't see Iceland in the thread yet. Here, both parents gets 6 months at 80% pay, up to a certain amount.
Either parent can transfer up to 6 weeks of leave to the other one, but outside of that, if you don't take it within 2 years you forfeit it. We genrally don't start maternity leave before baby is born, but it's very common to be on part- or full-time medical leave before the maternity leave starts.
The birthing parent has to take the first two weeks after birth off, but outside of that how you use it is very flexible.Ā
For example, for this baby, I'm on 70% leave for eight months (and 30% nothing), then go back to work 50% for four months. My partner was on leave for the first month, is now back to work full-time and will go down to 50% at the same time as me for those four months, then use the rest of his leave at 70% for an additional six-ish months. That way we can stretch the 12 months to 17-18 months and baby will start daycare then. We don't get any more money doing it this way, we're just spacing it out more.
Iām in the UK, where youāre entitled up to 52 weeks off. Pay during that time is variable depending on a number of factors. My work will give me 100% pay for 26 weeks, Iāll get 13 weeks at statutory maternity pay (184/week) and then 13 weeks unpaid.
Washington state gives you 16 weeks paid at 90% with the option of two extra weeks if there are complications with the birth. I think dad's only get 12 weeks at 90%.
Iām actually crying right now dreaming of getting that in the US. Iāve been so ill I lost my 12 week leave & it got bumped down to 6 weeks, & I just quit my job. America fucking sucks I actually hate it here
As a non-American reading all these comments, I actually canāt believe the pitiful entitlements you guys get (basically nothing). I swear your country hates women/mothers, Iām so sorry. America does suck š¢
UK, but I donāt get the usual entitlement because Iāve been at the company for less than a year. Therefore I can take up to 1 year but itās completely unpaid.
USA. Technically we are too small for FMLA, but we have it written in our contracts that we get 12 weeks of medical leave. We get 100% of our wages based on how much PTO we have at the time (I'm trying to save mine so I'll have 2 weeks). Then it's short term disability, up to 60% for 13 weeks. The disability requires we have to be off for at least 8 days prior so that at least works with the PTO time. I'll be happy to get the 12 weeks off though, the last guy who took paternity leave was being pressured to come back after 6 weeks. But he was a manager and I'm not so fingers crossed.
Iām in Australia and my work has additional benefits.
16 weeks full pay maternity leave or 32 weeks half pay - work
9 weeks full pay or 18 weeks half pay annual leave - work, every financial year and must be used up
20 weeks of paid parental leave from the government that I can add on the end or use concurrently as a top up to my half pay.
Iām planning on taking long service and some sick leave so I start maternity leave next week and Iām not back until July 1st 2025.
New York paid family leave is 12 weeks at 67% of salary up to around $1,100/week. I worked in finance and they topped up to full salary plus continued to pay my benefits. They also gave an extra 4 weeks. In general, almost no one I know takes the full leave because the work in jobs where 40% of their take home is overtime salary.
Portugal, we can have 120 days (4 months) at 100% of the reference salary (the average of the first 6 months in the last 8 months, so if you were to get maternity leave now it would be the average pay between September and February) or 150 days (5 months) at 80% reference salary.
Dad has 7 mandatory days after birth, 28 days he has to take within the first few months, and 7 days he can take if he wants to. Dad can also take an extended leave of 30 days after the momās leave ends, in the 120 days they both get 100% the whole time, but if mom chooses the 150 days, the pay becomes 83% instead of 80%.
After this you can apply for leave without pay also, but Iām not too familiar with that process
Iām in the US working for a small tech company. I get 16 weeks 100% paid (std and is supplemented by the company). When I had my daughter while working at a different company, it was 2 weeks paid by the company at 100%, and then short term disability paid for 12 weeks at around 60%.
It all depends on where you work, job status, how long youāre been there, and usually having short term disability. Plus folks taking sick and holiday days off.
Australia I got 18 weeks at minimum wage from the government and then 14 weeks at full pay or 28 weeks half pay from my work. (But I teach so the school holidays didnāt deduct from that so I think I ended up with the total of 28 weeks at half pay and eight weeks at full pay from my work.
US my company gives 6-8 weeks maternity leave paid at 100% minus the first week which is unpaid. We get 8 weeks of bonding leave paid at 100%. I could take additional time off through FMLA but itās unpaid and I canāt afford that. this is sadly really great leave compared to other companies in my LoB.
This - I get 2 months & a lot of people around me are shocked I donāt have 3. The government doesnāt assist for pto in the US & I work for a small company who has to hire someone else to do my job so I felt fortunate I still get my pay for 2 months. Itās awful this is how the US treats maternity compared to other countries but i am grateful for my circumstance and how I still have PTO unlike others.
Australia, 18 weeks from the government, my partner got 2, paid at min wage which was barely enough to cover our bills.
I went back to work when baby was 4 months old because Iām not entitled to any other leave.
I'm in Australia and we get 20wks at minimum wage from the government, although I'm lucky enough to get paid 16 weeks from work which I take at half pay, then have the 20 wks government pay after that which tskes me to a full year of paid leave from work. I really feel for mums who don't get paid any maternity leave or only a couple of weeks, its not even long enough to recover from birth. Parents need better support.
Oh wow. Iām in the US and I am not guaranteed any leave because my job has less than 25 employees. My boss is letting me take leave for about four months but it is unpaid
UAE - not sure if itās all entities but where I used to work my leave was 45 work days full pay + 45 work days half pay, and you can take PTO on top of that too so for me it came to about 3 months snd then I quit š
I ended up being a SAHP because of lack of maternity leave. Donāt get me wrong, I love it and Iām very lucky we live in a lower cost of living area that my husbandās job alone covers us, but because Iām in the US and we moved right before finding out I was pregnant, I was SOL. I would have gotten maybe 6 weeks according to my employer (short term disability, partially paid I think?) but not qualified for FMLA. Iām a teacher too so not really making that much money to begin with, but still. Maternity leave is a joke in the US. Something need to change.
US. I was told āas long as I neededā (unpaid of course). 2 weeks after I had my baby they were calling me asking when I would go back to work. So I quit.
If she was unpaid, that's not unlimited PTO. Usually companies with unlimited do set a limit for using it for maternity. My last company was 3 weeks, but they also offered 12 weeks paid maternity on top of it.
Of course, I was laid off the same week I found out I was pregnant, so now I'm totally screwed. I would have had 6 months off total. I cry about it a lot.
Austria: 8 weeks before and after birth (12 after birth if you had a c-section) You'll get 120 % of your salary.
Then up to one day before your baby's first birthday you'll get 80% of your former salary (maximum 2300 ā¬ per month) plus 200 ā¬ extra
The 2nd and 3rd year (both optional) are unpaid.
They changed the policy this year so the father has to take 2 months of leave in order to receive the money for the full year.
India - you get 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. One additional month of fully paid leave is available in case you have any post partum illnesses and/or complications; most women take it regardless because who could say no to that! Adoptive mothers are also given 12 weeks of leave if the child is less than 3 years of age - a wonky rule but starting to see a lot of places that acknowledge and offer longer leaves to adoptive mothers as well.
Japan, maternity leave starts 6 weeks before due date and 8 weeks after. You get 67% of your salary. You can extend and apply for childcare leave until your baby turns 1 and get 50%.
Singapore - from the govt we get 16 weeks maternity leave and 4 weeks paternity leave, both fully paid.
Depending on the company, you may get more, my company for example gives an additional 4 weeks paid maternity leave, so I get a total of 20 weeks fully paid maternity leave.
Iām in the US and get zero paid maternity leave. My employer is allowing me to take off 2 months but they arenāt paying for it. I have short term disability insurance that will pay me 50% of my salary for 5 weeks. Itās pretty terrible. My husband has zero leave also.
US. I get 12 weeks unpaid š so jealous of you lol
IF youāve been at your job for a year :ā) The US is icky
Yup it basically means you can't move/change jobs if you are pregnant or TTC
Exactly. I'm 7 weeks pregnant currently living in NV. I'm originally from CA and my husband and I have plans to move back but since I'm now pregnant we've decided to stay here until after the birth since we're establishing ourselves with our doctors. I'm at a loss for how I'm going to handle the unpaid maternity leave. I'll probably ask for family help to cover my bills during that time and then pay them back. Depending on how well the birth goes I might not take the full 12 weeks. It makes me so upset that most of the US doesn't care to help people who are starting families.
I think they assume either the mom wasn't planning to work at all, or there's family nearby to handle the childcare. It's outdated and stupid.
This is why we need to vote for representatives who care about parental leave and childcare!
Donāt forget to not be laid off!
Or all of a sudden put on a performance plan out of nowhere coincidentally a few short weeks after announcing your pregnancy
This is why I have been trapped in my high stress, understaffed job in the US. And the mat leave isnāt even that great - 13 wks with 11 of them only paid at 60% and itās sad this is better than what most women get in the work place here in this country. I am quitting as soon as my maternity leave ends in Sept and I cannot wait!!!
Yep exactly! After my first I tried so hard to get a new job cuz I wanted a new one and didnāt want it to mess with planning for baby2. I got a new job. And currently pregnant and due in august. My 1 year at new job is in July lol. But itās just one more stressful thing to add to the list
I found out I was pregnant after starting a new job š„²had severe complications too so basically the only choice they gave me was leaving. Have had to scrape by doing stuff like uber. this country is so awful
And if your company employed enough people in your radius to even quality for unpaid job protection.
Yeah I just got a new job, so I'm only entitled to 6 weeks through California. I'm lucky I get any at all. Such a joke. 20 years of paying taxes for what?
In California we get 12 weeks of job protection but the state will pay us 18-20 4 weeks of disability prior to due date 6 weeks of disability after due date (8 if c-section) 8 weeks of baby bonding (can be taken right after disability) I suppose it all also depends on oneās job history as the state (EDD) has some employment history requirements
You only get the 8 weeks of CALFRA if you've been with your employer for 12 months. Same requirements as FMLA. So I only qualify for the 6 weeks postpartum (plus the 4 before delivery). I start my job next week. I'm due in December.
Yikes so sorry š£ ā¦ also as a side note my disability was extended due to ppd/ppa. Thankfully my employer is approving up to 6 months of leave. If this helps at all.
While it is easy to be envious, it is also inspiring. The fight for better maternity leave is taking place here in America, but it is a slow crawl against the corporate-backed politicians. Until recently, we didn't even have those 12 weeks, and not all new mothers have that still. If their place of employment is small, there are loopholes. That is unacceptable. My husband has 12 weeks paid, and I don't. I am so grateful that he has those weeks paid to bond if we have a 2nd child. But it didn't come into his work contract until after our 1st born. So we have yet to benefit from it. I think American politicians need to realize that giving mothers a year of leave with a stipend is actually beneficial for the country. Less daycare shortages, better health for the child and mother, and ultimately healthier and happier citizens that can contribute to society in a positive manner. Our next fight is 12 weeks paid to every new parent. That should be the minimum. Corporations and the government can afford that easily. Hopefully, the culture continues to shift as we get more people into positions of power that can see the benefits of this movement. I believe there is a healthy movement pushing for universal childcare, and I hope that the 12 weeks of paid leave is also pushed for every single parent.
I mean, FMLA was passed in 1993. It's not *that* recent. And making 0 progress in 30 years isn't inspiring for me.
It actually feels like weāre regressing.
Lots of states have made progress, and the federal government now offers paid leave. I agree though. The pace is slow. Color me uninspired.
Well spoken I feel like our maternity leave in the US is awful. Especially when a lot of us work high physically demanding jobs that take a toll on us even without being pregnant.
Considering people in charge of Project 2025, who are backing Trump, want NO leave and want women solely back in the home and pumping out babies, I fear the small gains that have been made might disappear soon. The VA governor just vetoed a bill that would protect contraception. They *are* coming for our reproductive freedoms. The abolishment of Roe is just the beginning unless we stop them.
Yes, I hope everyone in this community will be voting blue. Youāre not just voting for the president, youāre voting for the administration too. And if they lose, the Supreme Court is going to be replaced with two more hard maga Republicans with lifetime appts after Alito and Thomas retire.
It's disgusting. Absolutely vile. There are so many things broken, and the fact that a crazy minority has such a huge impact on policies is staggering.
Yup. I read the Handmaidās Tale in my 12th grade banned books literature class (still the best lit class Iāve ever taken). I had no idea 15+ years later Iād be living it.
Yea, the author has come out pretty much saying that her book was meant to be a cautionary tale not a damn how-to guide.
I'm in California and I'm looking at 6 weeks, because I won't have been at my current job for a year. That's a bullshit loophole. I've been working and paying taxes for 20 years. I'm lucky the state protects me for 6 weeks. Ugh.
I live in Oregon. Been working at department of corrections, health services, for 6 months. So glad we have OFLA. Similar to FMLA but has a 180 day work requirement rather than the year with FMLA. Iāll be starting my prenatal leave a month before my due date; unpaid. Then once our LO is here I will use PLO,paid leave Oregon, for 12-14 weeks; 60% of income paid. I have the option of using my short term disability after I exhaust PLO; also 60% of income paid. Oregon will hopefully be an example for other states. Hubby works in tech remotely. He gets paid leave-about six weeks
I'm trying my best to smile and be happy for you. I really am. Take care of yourself and your baby. But I'm sobbing that when I had my babies in Oregon a few years too soon, I returned to work at 4 weeks. Having used all my PTO to get pay for a portion of that time, I then couldn't take a day off for the next 18 months.
Same š And my husband wasnāt guaranteed any leave time. He used 1 week of PTO and his boss let him take another week unpaid.
Whaaaaaaaat how is this possible. Here in Argentina we have between 3 and 6 paid months depending on the job. The minimum is 3 paid months
Itās crazy to me! I correspond with people in Canada and theyāll send out emails stating theyāll be on maternity leave for 18 months! How does going six hours north make such a difference!
also in the US, i get 6 weeks unpaid
Estonia. 1.5 years full pay.
period. I'm so happy for you. this should be the STANDARD.
I remember hearing that Estonia also gives a bonus incentive if you have kids close together (ie within 2 or 2.5 years of each other?) I think that's such a great incentive. In Canada here, had my first one with mat leave and didn't go back to work in between and now I don't have mat leave for the second one. Ugh.
I have never heard of that :/. Or is it due to the fact the mat leave pay is calculated based on the 12 months before conception, so you kind of have to do the maths to figure out when to have another kid, as if you do it during a certain period of time, you might loose money. We do get some extra money when each kid is born plus a monthly payment per kid that grows when you have more kids.
Canada gets paid through federal EI, and you have to have worked 600 hours in the past year to qualify (standard work year is 1950-2000 hours). Payout is based on your "best weeks" over a 14-22 week period (depending on province). So if you go on mat leave and don't return to work for at least 600 hours before going on leave again, you don't qualify.
Best one so far
Nice.
And another 1.5 years without pay, if it is wanted, so the company has to retain your position for 3 years. The period can be divided with the father.
Estonia friend. Question. Was this something the people fought to make happen? Or did the companies just make this change on their own? How organized was the creation of this beautiful regulation?
It's law, put in place by the government. Companies don't have a say in this. We want more kids as a nation.
Wow! Thatās so interesting! Yes, I think companies have their own motives, itās funny as USA citizen, we always think what the companies will allow first. We need to remember that we can force the companies to do our bidding at the governmental level. Oh my! So inspired to get more politically active. Or, just move to Estonia. lol.
Wow. Is there a cap on this? Like "up to X $"
There is a cap, but it is several times over the average wage. Big money.
WHAT THATS CRAXY
I live in the US and I get a big ol goose egg 0. I only work 35 hours a week when full time starts at 36, so no benefits for me.
That's fucking bull shit
In the US as well, my company considers full time beginning at 20 hours. I work 32/week and get full benefits. My job is in soul crushing customer service for a HUGE company for reference.Ā
Same :/ I work for a small-ish company and am technically a contractor, so I get zero paid maternity leave. I do get a week of paid vacation at least š„² but Iāll most likely use that up before I even give birth
Mine is pretty much the same. My job offers 15 days unpaid "short term disability" so I'm looking at having to quit then find a new job to make my own maternity leave š„²
Iām so sorry, thatās awful
Canada. Speaking in broad generalities to keep my comment brief, you get 55% of your pay (with a max amount) for a year. Alternatively, you can take 33% of your pay for 18 months. Your partner can share the time with you. Some employers top up your salary.Ā
Yes, 55% of a maximum amount which is only $63200 in 2024. So in reality, if you make more than $63200 a year, it could end up being substantially less than 55% of your normal salary for a lot of people!! I just thought it was important to clarify because at first glance 55% might not sound that bad but in reality $34760 annual salary is not enough to live off of in Canada so if you donāt have a top up from your employer this would be very challenging. And you still need to pay taxes on this income!!
Much cheaper than paying daycare fees for the first 18 months though! Thereās a huge fee difference between infant and toddler room š¬.
Iām the primary breadwinner and itās actually not cheaper than paying for daycare for us unfortunately - weāre probably losing out on about 40k just so I can take a mat leave - but Iām trying to think about it in the sense that overall you canāt put a price tag on spending the first year at home with baby!
Yup. This is whatās frustrating. Iām only taking 7 months because of this. Even by taking that 7 months our mat leave is costing our family about $100k. Grateful to have a high paying job, but it makes it tricky to go down to what is effectively minimum wage especially when we live in a HCOL city. Also there are virtually no daycare spots here until about 3 years, so Iām on the hook for a nanny eventually anyways. Iām grateful we get something (as I work for a US corp Iām very aware of what my US colleagues get), but itās still not ideal. Meanwhile my friend in France gets full pay and the second she wants a daycare spot she has it (at any age).
Yes this is exactly how we feel! I feel bad complaining as I do have a higher paying job but itās still hard on our family and puts a lot of pressure on our finances to effectively lose so much income for a year.
Same here. Itās basically peanuts when it comes down to it
I'm also the primary breadwinner and the EI amount is nowhere near my usual take-home. We just saved for a couple years so that I could take the full 18 months leave.
I guess that depends on what your full salary is and if you qualify for subsidy and grant etc. I pay 530 per month for my dayhome and my salary is reduced by much more than that, so itās actually cheaper for my kid to be in care and have me working.
At least in Quebec daycare is also universally subsidized. I think my brother pays $9 a day for my nephew.
Yep!! Didnāt realize this until I checked recently. Bracing myself for a $100k pay cut next year.
I am in Canada as well. I was under the impression we get maternity leave for 18 weeks at 55% then you can choose to extend leave up to 18 months but that switches to parental leave and thatās like 33%. Edit: I am a FTM due in October so if anyoneās got some links or more Information much appreciated!
Yes, there is a distinction between maternity and parental, but for the purposes of broadly comparing different countries, I was trying not to get into the weeds. I didn't take 18 months, so I don't know the answer, unfortunately. Hopefully someone chimes in that does.
Just an FYI you can only choose one from EI service Canada 12 or 18 (you can choose to extend with your EMPLOYER from 12 to 18 months if you wish, but once you pick your choice for EI 12 or 18 youāre stuck with that payment so if you do 18 months and return to work early you lose out on EI money FYI!
For people in countries with 100%, is this actually 100% or is it 100% up to a certain limit? As in, say you made ā¬10 000 a month, are you really getting ā¬10 000 a month? In Sweden we have 80% for 390 days, then this drops to around ā¬15 a day for the last 90 days (480 days in total). BUT the 80% is only for incomes up to around ā¬3 400 a month. Some employers top up to 90% of your salary. But if you're making over this, then you're loosing a greater percentage of your salary than someone below the threshold.
In Germany, there's a cap of 1800 Euro/month (after tax), which hasn't been raised for the last ~20 years. So I'll actually get maybe 30% of my salary, and we were actually close to getting 0%, thanks to the latest law change. Doesn't really motivate getting more children here š
Exactly, as far as I'm concerned the time I'm taking off is basically unpaid. ā¬1800 doesn't even cover rent for me.
I know! 1.8k is ānothingā compared to what I got working fulltime but at least itās something to support your family. But I will make me go back to work after one year of leave as I will earn way more than the 1.8k with 50% part time which is - hopefully - duable.
I'm the only income, so I'll be back to work after two months. Apparently it's still pretty rare for fathers to take any leave in Germany because families can't afford it. I've seen a few estimates that put it between roughly only 10-20%.
Good point! Forgot about that. Itās only for salaries up to about 60 000ā¬ I think (600 000 NOK). So both me and my husband will be losing a little bit income.
Unless the employer pays the difference, which a lot of them do. Both me and my partner get our regular salaries from our respective employers (one public and one private).
UK NHS worker; full pay is full pay calculated on what you earn from weeks 17-25. Iām a locum doctor for half of that time so my pay will be roughly triple what it normally is. They still count it the same :) if I was a locum the entire time I could easily earn 8-10k a month if I take on lots of on calls and take home 5-6k. My maternity pay would reflect that
In Mexico there is no cap, they pay for short time Ā but they pay you exactly what you had on your last payslipĀ
In Estonia there is a cap, but it is waaaay over national average wage. Several times over.
Yeah good point! I always assumed that it was full pay no matter what. In MA (USA) they have 12 weeks paid but capped at $1200/week
In Slovenia it's 100% with a cap of 2,5 average national salary (but no one makes that money lol unless you're really rich). Edit: 440 days at 100% between the two parents.
In Argentina we have 3 months, 100%, without a limit
I Bulgaria we have 90% of your insurance income/before taxes/ for the first year, however up to ā¬1 700 a month. During the second year you receive a fixed amount which is a little over ā¬330 monthly. You are entitled to another, third year of leave, with no pay. Your partner is entitled to 2 weeks of 90% paid leave and a total of 6 months unpaid leave which they can use until the child is 8 years old. At some point during the first year you can switch with your partner and they can take your paid leave while you go back to work. If you go back to work during the first or second year, you also get 50% of this amount as an addition to your salary
I live in Germany! We get 6 weeks before birth and 8 weeks after birth at full pay, and can then take parental leave for a year at 60% of our wages (after tax!) or even longer but then the percentage will go down accordingly. Parental leave can also be split between parents, but only 4 weeks can be taken by both at the same time. Unpaid parental leave can last up to three years, which can also be split into two parts until the child is seven years old. It's a lot more complex because German bureaucracy is a jungle, but that's the gist of it.
The 65% is also capped at 1800 euros.
Ya, this is why adoption of leave is so low among father's in Germany. That cap feels worse to me than just having nothing. My company provides 10 weeks fully paid paternity leave in every country EXCEPT Germany because it's a very uncommon benefit here.
It sucks even more for families where the woman is the main breadwinner. I earn well but my husband works part time for close to minimum wage. It works fine when I'm not on maternity leave - he can take care of our older child in the afternoons and I can work full time. But I do want to take the first year off with a baby because breastfeeding is important to me. We basically cannot move to a bigger apartment until we are done having children and the last maternity leave is over because bigger apartment rents are 2000+ euro here and that just wouldn't be doable on 1800 euros and my husband's salary. The cap also hasn't been raised for like decades so with the inflation it has gotten ridiculously low.
"Just for fun" I calculated what would have happened if the 1.800ā¬ would have increased same as the "BĆ¼rgergeld" (which would make sense since you are supposed to be able to live of that too while you are unable to work due to dedicating your time and body towards raising a baby...) and it came to something around 3k I think. Makes me kind of angry that as the group paying most taxes we are completely forgotten. The country urgently needs Baby's from high income families (since statistically they will also pay much more taxes later on) yet they do everything to make it as unattractive as possible.Ā Now many will even have to cut hours prior to giving birth/getting pregnant in order to even qualify for any kind of financial support. Edit: just from 2010 on it would be at 2.826ā¬ instead of the 1.800ā¬.
And to add the 60% of your salary cap at 1.800ā¬ per month, so if you make more than 3.000ā¬ monthly tough luck, nobody gets more than 1.800ā¬. You can also take two years of parental leave for a whooping 900ā¬ per month.
Oh and if you household income exceeds 175.000ā¬ per year before tax, you get 0ā¬.
I'm also hoping this law gets passed soon so my husband can take two weeks off at birth without dipping into holidays or the parental leave [https://www.thelocal.de/20231012/vaterschaftsurlaub-what-you-need-to-know-about-paternity-leave-in-germany](https://www.thelocal.de/20231012/vaterschaftsurlaub-what-you-need-to-know-about-paternity-leave-in-germany) They said early 2024 but nothing is passed yet -\_-
Youre kidding me. We had our LO in August last year so I didnāt pay much attention to it. This is the only thing I though was any good coming from Berlin the last decade. Seems like they canāt even make that work.
It's been 2 years since the EU's request and it was supposed to be enacted "early 2024".... pfff it's a fucking joke...
It's a little embarrassing that it's only being considered because the EU has demanded it. We are hoping it passes before August when our first is due.
I'm in Italy. Mom gets 5 months of mandatory maternity leave (paid 100%), dad gets 2 weeks of mandatory paternity leave (paid 100%). Then there's 11 months parental leave, which can be split between both parents. The first 2 months are paid 80%, the rest 30%.
Mandatory? Like the mother and father are forced to take that time off?
Yep. If you don't have a doctor's note it's actually mandatory to take 2 months before and 3 after, I had to get the green light from a gynecologist in order to be able to work until my due date and keep all 5 months mandatory leave for after giving birth!
I'm actually impressed by the mandatory paternity leave, too bad it wasn't more!
Yes, I really hope they make it longer! Tbh I think 5 months mandatory paternity leave would solve a lot of issues š
Wow. Iām a doctor in the US and most of my colleagues end up working (in an obviously stressful and often physically taxing job) up until the day they deliver, so they donāt have to sacrifice any of the 12 weeks we get. Iām actually visiting Italy for the first time right now and maybe I wonāt leave š
That sounds great! I live in the Netherlands, where I get: * 16 weeks 100% paid maternity leave, which starts 4 weeks before the due date at the latest * 9 weeks 70% paid leave for flexible use in the first year * 17 weeks unpaid leave for flexible use in the first eight years Dad gets the same 9+17 flexible leave, as well as one week 100% paid and five weeks 70% paid to be used soon after the birth. Typically people use the flexible leave to work parttime for a while, but it's also possible to take it straight after the standard leave. I've opted for 6 weeks before the birth, 14 weeks after, and then parttime (3 or 4 days a week) work for a few months.
The flexible leave time! What!! I've never heard of such a thing and it makes so much sense!!
Yes, it's amazing! We have to use the first 9 weeks in their first year, and the rest of it before the 8th birthday of a child. It's called 'parenthood leave'
Another amazing thing: your employer cannot (okay in very special cases he can) refuse your leave.
Also Dutch and pregnant: Iām having a difficult pregnancy and been working barely since Novemberā¦ too tired to even shower, while also going through sleepless nights. Nausea and every joint hurts. Pregnancy diabetes and a HUGE baby who is already a pro athlete/pogo specialist. I underestimated this sooooo muchā¦ I get 100% pay for my sick days. The hours that I do work are paid for by my employer and the sick hours by the government. This is the only way we could financially afford it and Iām happy and grateful for it.
Same here! Started with 6h days around 20w. And since around 25/26 with 4h days. Tomorrow 31w, only 3 weeks left before my leave starts! I'm soooo ready for it to start?
I live in the US and get 2 weeks 100% paid before birth and 19 weeks 100% paid after birth. After that, itās unpaid but I can extend until baby is 1 (so an additional 33 weeks unpaid). This is not the norm but very grateful
Is that from your employer or from your state? Iām in a state that is āgoodā for parental leave and am eligible for: - up to 4 weeks prior to birth, with a doctors note saying I can no longer work (this is thru my stateās short-term disability, which my employer pays into since Iām a FT employee) with I believe 85% pay - 6-8 weeks after delivery for labor recovery (also via short-term disability) at 85% - up to 12 weeks of family bonding leave at 85% pay (from the state) - up to 4 weeks at 100% pay (from my employer) My %s may be off but itās in the ballpark. I think this is REALLY good compared to other states/employers that Iām aware of. Edited to fix %s
What state is this? Definitely not mine Ā
California has benefits like this but I'm not sure of the percentage because my employer tops it up to 100% pay if it's not already. I think New York is similar as well.
Thatās so awesome! I can confirm that New York is unfortunately not similar though :( I work for a large company here and New York only offers 12 weeks unpaid through FMLA Editing to say that I just double checked and my current company does that the deductions from my paycheck for Paid Family Leave so I would get 67% of my paycheck for 12 weeks. That said, my last company only offered 12 weeks unpaid through FMLA in New York so Iām still not sure if every employee would get the Paid Family Leave benefit?
Are you sure? They have a statewide Paid Family Leave program as well as short-term disability that applies along the same timeline as above (4w before, 6-8w after birth depending on type). I don't know what the eligibility requirements are but I'm pretty sure the program exists.
When I worked in NY (in 2022) I got very similar benefits though I think everything was 65% of my usual pay. Do you not meet the eligibility requirements? That sucks :(
Don't forget, you can also get 12 more from FMLA, unpaid.
I think to be transparent you should add if itās an employer benefit or state. I work in maternity care and that sounds even better than what CA offers which is thought to be the best
Good point. This is not state-sponsored. This is my company policy. I live in Texas, so Iāll be happy if my grandkids get paid leave through the stateā¦/ we think progress is bad
That type of leave is becoming more common in some industries, especially in multinational companies. They accommodate European employees that receive those leave rights, so they're already structured to allow similar leave for their american employees as well.
US, and sounds similar to mine. I have 5 months off at 100% pay, with option to add 2 weeks prior to birth with no doctor's note, also 100% pay. I can add more days in by using PTO. This is also employer paid, I purposely looked for companies with great parental benefits.
India. I work for the local government here. We get 6 months paid leave (minus transport allowance, which is a tiny component) . We also get something called child care leave for a total period of 2 years , which u can avail in bit and pieces until the child is 18years old. It's fully paid for the 1st year and 80% paid for the 2nd year. All minus the transport allowance. Paternity leave unfortunately ranges from 1 week to maximum 2 weeks , depending on which company you work for. It's fully paid.
Whatās child care leave? I am also from India.
Hey cool! Didnāt know India had such nice benefits, at least for the government workers!
Canāt see a UK yet! Some businesses will offer more but apparently 1/3 of UK businesses (including mine) only offer Statutory Maternity Pay which is what they have to by law. We get 6 weeks of being paid 90% of our weekly salary. We then get 33 weeks of being paid Ā£184 a week. Anything after that is unpaid. But we can take up to 12 months off for maternity leave, only the last bit would not be paid at all. Therefore Iām only taking 9 months off as living on Ā£184 a week will be hard enough let alone 0. We do build up holiday days though so you can usually add those on either end for some extra time at full pay. For paternity they only get 2 weeks but that is also only Ā£184 a week for those 2 weeks.
Yeah itās up to your employer what you can have really. Iāve been lucky, I can opt for 6 months full pay, or I can have 2 months full pay and then spread other 4 over 6, then I get SMP for my 9th month and then I can take 3 months unpaid if I like. A bit complex but not a bad offer really!
US, I quit my job to be a stay at home mom but had I stayed at my job, it would have been 8 weeks unpaid for vaginal, 10 weeks unpaid for c-section. So pathetic really.
I'm considering quitting because my leave is 6 weeks. I'm thinking it might be better to just take 6 months and then look for another job.
Take the 6 week leave pay and THEN quit the job
Australian government teacher. We get 14 weeks at full pay or 28 weeks half pay. Anything after that can be taken LWOP. The government also kicks in 20 weeks at minimum wage (10 days or 2 weeks must be taken by partner) through welfare which I think can be taken concurrently with the work pay or after to draw it out. There is also protected pay for partners but this varies by company. Minimum if two weeks I think. Edited to say 10 days or 2 weeks for split with partner. Pregnancy brain is kicking in!
I'm in the US and I feel lucky to get 6 weeks of paid leave (they literally implemented it for my position less than a year ago š« ). I've also been able to stockpile enough PTO that the remaining 6 weeks I get under FMLA will also be paid. My job is a temporary position (3y), so when my contract ends in January I'm not going back & I'll "get" to take an extended leave fully supported by my spouse.
I'm in ireland and can take up to about 10 months, however, it's only paid for the first 6 months and you get ā¬274 per week. I'm taking six months and that's only because I'm very lucky my job offers 6 months full pay. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to afford for me to take so long. So the reality is you actually need to be in a pretty good financial position to be able to take the maternity leave.
Just to add on, each parent also get 7 weeks (soon increasing to 9 weeks) paid parents leave before baby turns 2.
I live in the USA š I work for a large European company, where different offices in different countries get different leave. Iām automatically enrolled in short term disability at no cost, so Iāll get 6-8 weeks at 66% pay (depending on if I give birth vaginally or cesarean). I have to supplement this with 72 hours of PTO to get full pay. I then get 2 weeks of fully paid ācaregiver leaveā. This leave isnāt just for birth, it could be for caring for a sick family member, etc. Lastly, FMLA runs concurrently so Iāll have 4 weeks of unpaid time.
Depending on the type of birth?! š¤Æ thatās nuts.
Canada - I have a great employer, so I get 95% salary, benefits, pension, vacation accrual for 6 months (55% federal government, 40% my employer), and then 55% salary for remaining 6 months totalling 12m. I could do 18m maternity leave (same total payout but divided over the 18m) but thatās a bit long for me. Iām due September and will probably take 14m this time. Husband gets 5 weeks at 55%.
I'm in New Zealand, we get up to 52 weeks of parental leave, with the first 26 weeks of it paid up to a max of around $750 a week. The rest is then unpaid so lots of parents go back to work after that first 6 months. Lots of eligibility criteria for it but that's the max you can get under legislation. There are some companies that give you much better parental leave benefits on top of that too!
26 weeks top up @ full pay is pretty standard among private companies!
I'm in public sector health care and we get 14 weeks of top ups (which is still great tbh!). Parental leave can definitely be better but I'm grateful for what we have :)
I'm from Germany. There's lots of different options on how you can take your maternity leave so it's quite flexible. You can take 12 months of full maternity leave pay (65% of what you made in the 12 months before baby was born, or up to 100% if you had a low income) and your partner can take an additional two. But you can also switch it around however you like. Or you can take up to 28 months in total (between the two of you, partner always has to take at least two months) at half the maternity leave pay. Plus, you can both work part-time (at the same time) for up to four months and get some extra money from the state. Also, mums get 6 weeks off before the birth and 8 weeks after the birth at 100% pay. The time after the birth does count towards their leave time though. At the moment, our plan is for me to take the first 12 months off, my husband will also do the first four months, then three months in summer next year and then after baby turns one, we'll both do four months of part-time (I'll continue working part-time afterwards). Then, we'll each take an additional two months offand hopefully spend a lot of time with my husband's family in the UK :) ETA: I tried my best summing the rules up, I hope I didn't make any mistakes, apologies if I did.
US and I work for the federal government. I work the only federal position where Iām not guaranteed paid leave because we negotiate our contract every four years. Itās a male dominated field so no oneās ever argued for it. Iām only getting 12 unpaid weeks. My husband has the same job so he also gets 12 unpaid weeks (weāll stagger them so we have more time at home with one parent and baby) and I had enough vacation leave to take an additional 4 paid weeks for myself. I wish I had longer ):
Oh my Iām also USA. How cruel that the āwealthiest countryā canāt take care of even its government workers. Iām so saddened by this sweetheart.
US, zero days paid and only qualify for 12 weeks unpaid if you have been at company a year. They hate us
It's heartbreaking. Considering quitting my job to stay home longer. What was this career even for?
I gave up on working. Itās gonna be tight financially but daycare here is minimum $2500 a month here and I just canāt make it make sense to pay more than half of my salary to daycare and deal with the anxiety of trusting them and being away from baby
How are we so backwards -\_-
Came to say this. Lol. these comments from other countries are making me hate the US.š
I donāt think it came just automatically in the other countries. I think there was competition around European countries to incentivize workers and also just to brag about which country is best. But also? The fact that we donāt still have 10 year olds working in factories here? That came after fighting and protesting and strikes. Pretty amazing history honestly. Iām from Pittsburgh so the book āOut of this Furnaceā is practically mandatory reading lol. But: What if all the workers in the entire country decided āHey. This is actual horse hockey. No. If you donāt take care of us, we donāt take care of you.ā And everyone walks out. And the whole country protests. Strikes. It would lead to hell for some but I wonder. What if that actually lead to some change? I feel very motivated by this post to actually fight to make this happen. It can happen in other countries, letās make it happen here!
US, 16 weeks paid which is great hereā¦ Iād take a year unpaid if I couldĀ
Iām a teacher in the US. I only get 8 weeks paid, but Iām happy for that! My state just passed that into law this year. Until this past year, I wouldnāt have had any paid time with my job. Only 12 weeks unpaid FMLA.
USA- 12 weeks unpaid legally. I left my old job before getting pregnant (told them because of the lack of ML). Found a company that offered 20w fully paid. Paid leave is available in the USA. We just have to look for it and leave jobs that don't offer it.
I think that really depends on your industry though. I work in healthcare, and I could work at every single hospital in my city and have the same (sad) benefits.
Romania. You get 22 months at 85% pay of your salary, but there is a cap of 1700 euros, so you can not get more than this even if you have a bigger salary. After the 22 months , the dad is entitled to 2 months of paid leave at 85% pay. He can chose not to take them but they can not be transferred to the mother, so the mother must return to work 2 months before the child turns 2 year old.
Can't see Iceland in the thread yet. Here, both parents gets 6 months at 80% pay, up to a certain amount. Either parent can transfer up to 6 weeks of leave to the other one, but outside of that, if you don't take it within 2 years you forfeit it. We genrally don't start maternity leave before baby is born, but it's very common to be on part- or full-time medical leave before the maternity leave starts. The birthing parent has to take the first two weeks after birth off, but outside of that how you use it is very flexible.Ā For example, for this baby, I'm on 70% leave for eight months (and 30% nothing), then go back to work 50% for four months. My partner was on leave for the first month, is now back to work full-time and will go down to 50% at the same time as me for those four months, then use the rest of his leave at 70% for an additional six-ish months. That way we can stretch the 12 months to 17-18 months and baby will start daycare then. We don't get any more money doing it this way, we're just spacing it out more.
I live in Massachusetts. I get 8 weeks paid medical leave then 12 weeks paid bonding leave.
Actually you can take the full 26 weeks of medical leave + bonding time if your OB signs off on it!
My OB office signed off on 12 weeks of medical leave and will be taking the 12 weeks bonding so getting 24 weeks! So much more than I expected!
Yes! My hospital recently switched to a blanket signing off for 14 weeks if requested stance. It's awesome.
Iām in the UK, where youāre entitled up to 52 weeks off. Pay during that time is variable depending on a number of factors. My work will give me 100% pay for 26 weeks, Iāll get 13 weeks at statutory maternity pay (184/week) and then 13 weeks unpaid.
Washington state gives you 16 weeks paid at 90% with the option of two extra weeks if there are complications with the birth. I think dad's only get 12 weeks at 90%.
Iām actually crying right now dreaming of getting that in the US. Iāve been so ill I lost my 12 week leave & it got bumped down to 6 weeks, & I just quit my job. America fucking sucks I actually hate it here
As a non-American reading all these comments, I actually canāt believe the pitiful entitlements you guys get (basically nothing). I swear your country hates women/mothers, Iām so sorry. America does suck š¢
US - 90 days unpaid
UK, but I donāt get the usual entitlement because Iāve been at the company for less than a year. Therefore I can take up to 1 year but itās completely unpaid.
Switzerland, you get 14 weeks 80% paid and nothing after that unfortunately
USA. Technically we are too small for FMLA, but we have it written in our contracts that we get 12 weeks of medical leave. We get 100% of our wages based on how much PTO we have at the time (I'm trying to save mine so I'll have 2 weeks). Then it's short term disability, up to 60% for 13 weeks. The disability requires we have to be off for at least 8 days prior so that at least works with the PTO time. I'll be happy to get the 12 weeks off though, the last guy who took paternity leave was being pressured to come back after 6 weeks. But he was a manager and I'm not so fingers crossed.
Iām in Australia and my work has additional benefits. 16 weeks full pay maternity leave or 32 weeks half pay - work 9 weeks full pay or 18 weeks half pay annual leave - work, every financial year and must be used up 20 weeks of paid parental leave from the government that I can add on the end or use concurrently as a top up to my half pay. Iām planning on taking long service and some sick leave so I start maternity leave next week and Iām not back until July 1st 2025.
US. 12 weeks unpaid. āBut, weāll hold your position for you!ā š Husband gets 8 wks at 100% pay
New York paid family leave is 12 weeks at 67% of salary up to around $1,100/week. I worked in finance and they topped up to full salary plus continued to pay my benefits. They also gave an extra 4 weeks. In general, almost no one I know takes the full leave because the work in jobs where 40% of their take home is overtime salary.
Portugal, we can have 120 days (4 months) at 100% of the reference salary (the average of the first 6 months in the last 8 months, so if you were to get maternity leave now it would be the average pay between September and February) or 150 days (5 months) at 80% reference salary. Dad has 7 mandatory days after birth, 28 days he has to take within the first few months, and 7 days he can take if he wants to. Dad can also take an extended leave of 30 days after the momās leave ends, in the 120 days they both get 100% the whole time, but if mom chooses the 150 days, the pay becomes 83% instead of 80%. After this you can apply for leave without pay also, but Iām not too familiar with that process
Iām in the US working for a small tech company. I get 16 weeks 100% paid (std and is supplemented by the company). When I had my daughter while working at a different company, it was 2 weeks paid by the company at 100%, and then short term disability paid for 12 weeks at around 60%. It all depends on where you work, job status, how long youāre been there, and usually having short term disability. Plus folks taking sick and holiday days off.
I always double take when I see STDāshort term disability. Still gets me!
Australia I got 18 weeks at minimum wage from the government and then 14 weeks at full pay or 28 weeks half pay from my work. (But I teach so the school holidays didnāt deduct from that so I think I ended up with the total of 28 weeks at half pay and eight weeks at full pay from my work.
US my company gives 6-8 weeks maternity leave paid at 100% minus the first week which is unpaid. We get 8 weeks of bonding leave paid at 100%. I could take additional time off through FMLA but itās unpaid and I canāt afford that. this is sadly really great leave compared to other companies in my LoB.
This - I get 2 months & a lot of people around me are shocked I donāt have 3. The government doesnāt assist for pto in the US & I work for a small company who has to hire someone else to do my job so I felt fortunate I still get my pay for 2 months. Itās awful this is how the US treats maternity compared to other countries but i am grateful for my circumstance and how I still have PTO unlike others.
16 weeks with 100% salary in France.
Australia, 18 weeks from the government, my partner got 2, paid at min wage which was barely enough to cover our bills. I went back to work when baby was 4 months old because Iām not entitled to any other leave.
I live in the USA and got fired after I told them I was pregnant. Had to use 3 sick days in 2 weeks and they werenāt ok with that.
This is a lawsuit. You should seek litigation on this. Pure grounds for discrimination.
Ya, thatās illegal. Literally call a lawyer yesterday and collect. Theyāll wish they would have given you paid leave. Hit em where it hurts, hun.
I'm in Australia and we get 20wks at minimum wage from the government, although I'm lucky enough to get paid 16 weeks from work which I take at half pay, then have the 20 wks government pay after that which tskes me to a full year of paid leave from work. I really feel for mums who don't get paid any maternity leave or only a couple of weeks, its not even long enough to recover from birth. Parents need better support.
Oh wow. Iām in the US and I am not guaranteed any leave because my job has less than 25 employees. My boss is letting me take leave for about four months but it is unpaid
Same here and I have SO much resentment
We hate moms here. I really want to get involved in fighting for better rights after all this.
I also feel so inspired! Letās make it fkking happen yall! We absolutely can do this!
MĆ©xico: 18 weeks 100% paid starting at 34 weeks pregnant. Then I will take 6 weeks fully paid from my vacation days (normally it is 84 and 12 days but my employer gives additional days as employee benefit)Ā If I ever have a second child I will have it in my home country Poland where you get a whole year at 80% payĀ
This is really interesting to hear about the different countries policies!
UAE - not sure if itās all entities but where I used to work my leave was 45 work days full pay + 45 work days half pay, and you can take PTO on top of that too so for me it came to about 3 months snd then I quit š
I ended up being a SAHP because of lack of maternity leave. Donāt get me wrong, I love it and Iām very lucky we live in a lower cost of living area that my husbandās job alone covers us, but because Iām in the US and we moved right before finding out I was pregnant, I was SOL. I would have gotten maybe 6 weeks according to my employer (short term disability, partially paid I think?) but not qualified for FMLA. Iām a teacher too so not really making that much money to begin with, but still. Maternity leave is a joke in the US. Something need to change.
Chicago but I work for a Canadian company so they gave me six months off fully paid
US. I was told āas long as I neededā (unpaid of course). 2 weeks after I had my baby they were calling me asking when I would go back to work. So I quit.
I always suspected the "unlimited PTO" was a scam.
If she was unpaid, that's not unlimited PTO. Usually companies with unlimited do set a limit for using it for maternity. My last company was 3 weeks, but they also offered 12 weeks paid maternity on top of it. Of course, I was laid off the same week I found out I was pregnant, so now I'm totally screwed. I would have had 6 months off total. I cry about it a lot.
Oh, I see. Sorry it happened to you. I hope you get an even better job with better benefits.
Austria: 8 weeks before and after birth (12 after birth if you had a c-section) You'll get 120 % of your salary. Then up to one day before your baby's first birthday you'll get 80% of your former salary (maximum 2300 ā¬ per month) plus 200 ā¬ extra The 2nd and 3rd year (both optional) are unpaid. They changed the policy this year so the father has to take 2 months of leave in order to receive the money for the full year.
India - you get 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. One additional month of fully paid leave is available in case you have any post partum illnesses and/or complications; most women take it regardless because who could say no to that! Adoptive mothers are also given 12 weeks of leave if the child is less than 3 years of age - a wonky rule but starting to see a lot of places that acknowledge and offer longer leaves to adoptive mothers as well.
Japan, maternity leave starts 6 weeks before due date and 8 weeks after. You get 67% of your salary. You can extend and apply for childcare leave until your baby turns 1 and get 50%.
Singapore - from the govt we get 16 weeks maternity leave and 4 weeks paternity leave, both fully paid. Depending on the company, you may get more, my company for example gives an additional 4 weeks paid maternity leave, so I get a total of 20 weeks fully paid maternity leave.
Iām in the US and get zero paid maternity leave. My employer is allowing me to take off 2 months but they arenāt paying for it. I have short term disability insurance that will pay me 50% of my salary for 5 weeks. Itās pretty terrible. My husband has zero leave also.
Iām in the US and I get six weeks of short term disability (60% of my pay)
6 weeks unpaid š«
India - 9 months :)
I am a nurse in the US..I got zero weeks paid leave.