I just want to issue a small correction here. After reading this, my sister reminds me that because she needed fertility treatments, her job treated her pregnancy as an elective procedure, and she wasn't even eligible for disability.
It's the most inhumane and unnatural thing to force parents away from their newborn baby by making the economic circumstances so difficult that there is no other way. It's shocking how America treats its mothers and fathers (and newborns therefore) and a reform is nowhere in sight. While millions of dollars are spent on social non-issues that make society even worse (CRT, gender pronouns, DEI), *this* would actually be a topic worth spending millions of dollars for: enabling families to flourish and care for their newborn.
I'm not sure where Timothy stands on it, but I was a massive fan of the expanded child tax credits of 2021. What a shame it was left to expire. There doesn't seem any way to channel the economy into a direction where single incomes are, on average, sufficient to sustain a household with children. The only alternatives seem to be government money or forcing employers to pay more. It does amuse me seeing conservatives' heads explode trying to reconcile this reality with their "family values." Increasingly, though, younger conservatives are more open to government action. Reagonomics seems destined to die with right-leaning Boomers.
I've written about this here previously, but I'll put it this way: When we first got a union and were in negotiations, if the company had come back with "what if we issue a statement supporting or attacking X social issue" they would have been laughed out of the room. We're here to talk about concessions, and the only categories are pay, benefits, and working conditions.
Since I don't live in the States, I'm not familiar with the expanded child tax credits idea. In Spain, you get 16 weeks of fully paid maternity leave AND 16 weeks of fully paid paternity leave; the latter can be taken whenever you like. That's real equality for me.
In Germany, you also get financial support by the state (depends on your circumstances how much it is) until up to a year and if you wish, you can go on unpaid leave for up to three years and your employer is legally prohibited from firing you.
I just want to issue a small correction here. After reading this, my sister reminds me that because she needed fertility treatments, her job treated her pregnancy as an elective procedure, and she wasn't even eligible for disability.
A powerful article, thank you!
It's the most inhumane and unnatural thing to force parents away from their newborn baby by making the economic circumstances so difficult that there is no other way. It's shocking how America treats its mothers and fathers (and newborns therefore) and a reform is nowhere in sight. While millions of dollars are spent on social non-issues that make society even worse (CRT, gender pronouns, DEI), *this* would actually be a topic worth spending millions of dollars for: enabling families to flourish and care for their newborn.
I'm not sure where Timothy stands on it, but I was a massive fan of the expanded child tax credits of 2021. What a shame it was left to expire. There doesn't seem any way to channel the economy into a direction where single incomes are, on average, sufficient to sustain a household with children. The only alternatives seem to be government money or forcing employers to pay more. It does amuse me seeing conservatives' heads explode trying to reconcile this reality with their "family values." Increasingly, though, younger conservatives are more open to government action. Reagonomics seems destined to die with right-leaning Boomers.
I've written about this here previously, but I'll put it this way: When we first got a union and were in negotiations, if the company had come back with "what if we issue a statement supporting or attacking X social issue" they would have been laughed out of the room. We're here to talk about concessions, and the only categories are pay, benefits, and working conditions.
Since I don't live in the States, I'm not familiar with the expanded child tax credits idea. In Spain, you get 16 weeks of fully paid maternity leave AND 16 weeks of fully paid paternity leave; the latter can be taken whenever you like. That's real equality for me.
In Germany, you also get financial support by the state (depends on your circumstances how much it is) until up to a year and if you wish, you can go on unpaid leave for up to three years and your employer is legally prohibited from firing you.