[HN Gopher] Even parental leave in Europe could be better
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       Even parental leave in Europe could be better
        
       Author : melanieb421
       Score  : 20 points
       Date   : 2022-08-01 16:18 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (slite.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (slite.com)
        
       | confuseddesi wrote:
       | Have we been able to find any correlation between better parental
       | leave and people being more likely to have kids/more kids? What
       | is the goal of this improved parental leave?
        
         | nso95 wrote:
         | Quality of life
        
       | bouzouk wrote:
       | I am currently in the exact same situation, also in France. And
       | it seems to me that the more we see the progress that has been
       | made on gender equality (by simply talking to your parents... or
       | looking at the US) the more we see the long road ahead: - why do
       | I have to leave my wife and baby alone at home for many weeks? -
       | why do every nurse, pediatrician or midwife makes you feel like a
       | outsider (sometimes with this nice condescending remark: << Oh
       | nice, I see that the father has came >>) - in many maternity, why
       | do fathers need to fight to stay with the mother and baby (in
       | France, some I know literally hid in the closet so they were not
       | kicked out in the evening!) - why do I need to go to the women
       | restrooms and face judging looks simply to change my baby?
       | 
       | The worst of it is that, in the end, it sometimes feels easier to
       | fit into the mold and be a bystander in your baby first months.
       | But I am fighting hard this tendency.
        
       | rayiner wrote:
       | The pay during parental leave in Europe is also low. In France it
       | is capped at about 3,500 euros per month. A software engineer or
       | someone like that might not be able to afford to take a
       | significant parental leave even if the law allows them to take
       | one.
       | 
       | Parental leave should really be set up as a simple insurance
       | system. Require employers to get insurance on workers that would
       | cover X months of leave at full salary. In the long run it's just
       | not very much money compared to a person's total salary over a 40
       | year working life.
        
         | popotamonga wrote:
         | In Portugal, the pay is 80% but tax free so in high salaries
         | you end up with a massive profit (taxes can reach 50% easily)
        
         | bouzouk wrote:
         | True, but in France almost all companies will also supplement
         | so you can have a full salary.
        
       | haunter wrote:
       | Why change the title?
       | 
       | "You're not people-first until your parental leave policy is"
        
         | container wrote:
         | Also, it could have just said "France" instead of "Europe".
        
           | morsch wrote:
           | _I live in France, and as of July 2021, the law allows for 25
           | days of paternity leave._
           | 
           | Wow, I had no idea; that's awful. In Germany parents share 14
           | months at two thirds of their average salary (capped at 1800
           | EUR each, though). Moms get another 6 weeks before their due
           | date. You're also entitled to more time, unpaid.
        
             | viraptor wrote:
             | > capped at 1800 EUR each
             | 
             | Is that a cap per week or per month?
        
               | mattimatti wrote:
               | month. Generally salaries and such payments in Germany
               | are per month.
        
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       (page generated 2022-08-01 23:02 UTC)