Paid Maternity Leave, How Nations Compare

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is reason to not have kids in the U.S., but it is something to think about, and definitely plan for.

Certainly leaves me with “Hmph, this is incredibly unfortunate,” if nothing else.

WomenAndTech_MaternityLeaveInfographic

Found on Upworthy

 

 

 

About Ashley Silverman

Sister, Aunt, Wife and Friend. I may not have any kids yet, but I am one heck of an aunt, as well as a former teacher. I am the Social Media Manager and Blogger Relations coordinator for Playground Dad. I love everything active, hilarious internet content, twitter shenanigans, good ole Facebook fun, and I bake up a storm.

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  • dadzclub

    UK 6 weeks? Do you have a reference for this data please. http://www.dadzclub.com/articles/babies/additional-paternity-leave-uk.ashx

    • dadzclub

      Sorry. Just realised it was maternity leave. Thought you were highlighting paternity leave. Would be interesting to see an infographic on that

      • http://www.facebook.com/heidi.m.walker.984 Heidi Mulligan Walker

        The European Union has mandated that paternity leave is offered in all EU countries. When I left the UK a couple of years ago it was 2 weeks paid paternity leave. Some countries in Europe allow both husband and wife to split the maternity leave time up between them.

        Just checked further 2 weeks statutory paid paternity leave and up to 26 weeks paternity leave (no government pay but companies may offer some pay). (from gov.uk site – )The father of your child (or your partner) could have the right to up to 26 weeks’ Additional Paternity Leave. This is in addition to the 2 weeks’ Statutory Paternity Leave they could be entitled to.

    • http://www.facebook.com/heidi.m.walker.984 Heidi Mulligan Walker

      I was living in the UK when all 3 of my children were born. I took 6 months paid leave all 3 times and with the combination of government paid benefit and my companies enhanced maternity pay benefits I was effectively paid 75% of my pay for the 6 month period. In addition between your childs birth and 5th birthday you can take up to 13 weeks of parental leave – each European country allows you to do this in different ways. I find the very small amount of maternity leave offered in the US is actually quite a challenge for families. In the UK you can actually start your maternity leave 11 weeks before the birth of the child. Here mothers are working u until the last minute, using up all paid holiday before and after to have as much time at home as possible and they still only have a few months. I am very glad I had the extra time at home before going back to work full-time. I felt very fortunate to be able to have those benefits.

      Have just checked the UK data is actually the following:

      If you’re an employee, you can take up to 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave.

      If you give your employer the correct notice, you can take Statutory Maternity Leave no matter:

      how long you’ve been with your employer

      how many hours you work

      how much you’re paid

      Your employment rights are protected while on Statutory Maternity Leave, but your employer is allowed to contact you to ask when you’re planning to return.

      Plan your maternity leave by using your baby’s due date to work out your Statutory Maternity Leave notice period, earliest start date and Ordinary and Additional Maternity Leave periods.

      You have the right to:

      26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave

      26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave

      The father of your child (or your partner) could have the right to up to 26 weeks’ Additional Paternity Leave. This is in addition to the 2 weeks’ Statutory Paternity Leave they could be entitled to.

      If you return to work early you must give your employer 8 weeks’ notice.

      You may also get 13 weeks’ parental leave at any time after the birth – up until your child’s 5th birthday (this may be restricted to a maximum of 4 weeks per year) – speak to your employer.