U.S. family values poor compared to Europe

[Nicholas_J]

An article published in the latest issue of the Journal of Social Issues discusses a novel topic-the public policy of motherhood in the United States. Imagine two families who both experience the birth of a child. In the first family, both parents have paid leave for the two weeks following the child's birth. Then the mother continues her paid leave for a total of 18 months while the father returns to work at 80% of his former schedule and 80% of his former pay. Both parents have the right to work part-time until their youngest child turns eight.

In the second family, the father cannot afford to take leave without pay, so he uses two vacation days to attend delivery and help bring the baby home. The law entitles the mother to 12 weeks off without pay if her employer employs more than 50 people (42% of private employers don't). Finding a childcare center that takes 3-month-olds is a major challenge, so the husband's mother agrees to care for the child on a part-time basis. The mother returns to her original job part-time, but finds that she is paid at a lower rate than full-timers doing the same work. She becomes frustrated with her lowered wages and blocked career path and quits. Her husband, seeking to make up for her lost salary, joins the one-third of fathers who work long hours (more than 49 hours per week). He now rarely sees the baby except on weekends.

The first couple lives in Europe; the other in the United States."

http://behavioralhealth.typepad.com/

Also, oddly enough, the lowest abortion rates in the industrialized world occur in the most liberal nations of the indstrialized world, with the most advanced social safety networks. The Nettherlands and Belgium have the lowest rates of abortion in the industrialized world.

[Karenina]

1. Kick!

:evilgrin: