Speciesism Appropriation

Maternity leave Because what says victim complex more than I want free money for sick leave for something that isnt an illness. Its pretty strange how feminists usually make no mention of the potential problems that mandated paid maternity leave would cause for women, such as a drop in pay or the disadvantage they would be put at when competing with male applicants of equal experience, education etc, when searching for jobs. I continually find myself shifting further and further away from my liberal friends when they support causes like these because they completely fail to look at more than the free money side of the issue. Primarily, why should a company in the private sector pay for your absence when you arent working? There is not a single (good) reason why a private business owner should be forced to pay out of pocket for a non-job related leave of absence. If you have been working at a company for a while (most states its 1 year) you should surely be ably to retain your benefits, seniority and position for several weeks (12 in most states), but you should most definitely not receive compensation for that time off work. As a requirement paid maternity leave would fall under benefits, would women be willing to contribute to such a benefit, in exchange for a decreased salary, in order to have this option? If so, then be my guest, but I believe it may violate some anti discrimination laws. In addition to the counterproductivity of these measures we also have to consider that these costs must go somewhere. Look at the unemployment rates of countries that have large social safety nets and state-mandated benefits. In Europe you will see that it runs between 4-6% higher than the United states (we consider 5% "total employment".) Unemployment hasn't been under 7% since 1995 (that's the number that was traditionally considered an incumbent President's death-knell. My, how times have changed.) It gets much, much worse for the youth-- since 1995, average youth unemployment in the Eurozone countries hovered at around 18%! Businesses don't hire unless they absolutely have to under those conditions, because every worker costs that much more. Things are also fairly pricey in Europe- all costs are passed along. So think about all this next time somebody mentions paid maternity leave Costs Free money

Counterproductive

Why should the company pay for your absence when you are not working? I don't see most pregnancies as job related. As Joell and Ethan point out, with FMLA, if you have been there over 1 year, you can retain your position, seniority, benefits, and take off 12 weeks with the first year. They may give maternity leave for retention purposes voluntarily, a company interest in retention, but I can't see it as a requirement as the situation is a personal issue totally unrelated to company operations. Since benefits are usually given instead of a pay increase in negotiations, would you sign up for such a benefit and contribute towards it, possibly at a decreased salary or wage? There is a cost to this sort of thing... Look at the unemployment rates of countries that have large social safety nets and state-mandated benefits. In the Eurozone, you will see that it runs between 4-6% higher than ours (we consider 5% "total employment".) Unemployment hasn't been under 7% since 1995 (that's the number that was traditionally considered an incumbent President's death-knell. My, how times have changed.) It gets much, much worse for the youth-- since 1995, average youth unemployment in the Eurozone countries hovered at around 18%! Businesses don't hire unless they absolutely have to under those conditions, because every worker costs that much more. Things are also fairly pricey in Europe-- all costs are passed along.
Mark 9 Matthew 13 Revelation 14 Anchoring + Morality