I've brought this up before, but this is why employers looking at equally qualified men and women would prefer to go with men. (Unless the employer is so pathetically brainwashed that they've convinced themselves that an equally qualified woman would have had to work ten times as hard to get as far as the man.)

A woman is more likely to quit her job to start a family. And even if she doesn't quit her job, she's more likely to leave early to pick up the kid from daycare, more likely to stay home from work if the kid is sick.

I'm okay with maternity leave, but I think the mother should pay for it herself.

Cam, Midwest: "The leave is to benefit the child..."

Hey, I'm absolutely certain for sure that my having a couple of months of paid leave from work at someone else's expense would be a great benefit to... oh, my grandchildren, yes, and possibly to other children as well. It's for the children.

I think women who have babies should be subject to the same medical leave policies, all the other people have to abide by.

This is the way it works in the federal government. You can take sick leave until you run out. Regular leave after that, and unpaid leave if you exhaust both of those, or you can take a unpaid leave of absence.

This is the only kind of policy that is fair.

I had a c section while I was in the Army, and they were so anxious to avoid treating women better than men, that I got the standard thirty days leave, but two guys I know, one who was in a minor car accident, and another who had an appendectomy got way more convalescent leave than I did because it was a doctor's discretion thing.

For child birth, even a c section, the Army had removed doctor's discretion so the fact that I emerged from the surgery sick, with enough blood loss, that I should have had a transfusion (but could not because this was during the time when they knew the blood supply was infected with AIDS but had no way to test for it) made no difference.

I am really grateful for the medical care I got in the Army. It was free, and it was good. But policies designed to favor, or penalize one medical issue over another often lead to unintended consequences.

My maternity leave wasn't paid. If I wanted it paid I had to use my sick and vacation time. As crappy as it sounds, my preference is that my husband's business not hire women because they never seem to last as long as the men do, the exception being our 20-year-old store manager who has been there two years and racks up significantly more sales than anyone else. The other women employees we've had were lazy or up and quit after short periods of time. One sat on her ass all day whining she was sick constantly when she was pregnant or go lie down in the back room instead of working so we got rid of her. Another woman we had quit after two months because a guy she'd been dating for two weeks moved out of state and she followed, gave no notice at all. Three have given birth and never cone back. The only ones that last are the old ladies who only work part-time teaching classes a few hours a week. We'd like women employees since it's a sewing and vacuum store, but they just don't seem that interested in sticking around or focusing on their job.

The point is to attempt to adapt common workplace practice to family life. The fertility rates in the occidental world being what they are, removing certain hurdles to reproduction is defensible policy. Keep in mind also, pregnancy is often not planned. It would be rather rum to complain about someone else's sick leave as well.

My sister works for a hospital. One of her coworkers is pregnant with her second child. The baby-daddy and her live together. He makes a nice living as the owner of a construction company. He just built their house to include granite counter tops, a bathroom for every bedroom. Basically a McMansion.

So for the last few weeks the coworker has had a fairly shitty attitude. My sister asked "Why?" She said she plans to take the full FMLA leave and then quit and go on the welfare system. So she doesn't care what her next review is going to look like.

So they can't hire a replacement for at least six weeks. The hospital will lose on the insurance payments. And we as taxpayers get screwed by paying for her support for at least the next 18 years.

If it's like the company I worked for, if she doesn't return to work at the end of her leave, all provided pay and benefits will need to be paid back to the company.

The leave isn't to benefit the mother.

Bollocks. Anyone who thinks that women are perfectly happy to spend more time in cubical farms while shoving their babies into creches knows nothing about human nature or mothers.

My much younger half sister had a baby a year ago. She used every second of FMLA, and hates not being at home with her daughter.

this is why employers looking at equally qualified men and women would prefer to go with men

But...I was told that women make $0.75 for every dollar a man makes? and now that they're being forced to pay for contraception, wouldn't they be within their rights to stipulate implanted contraception?

Think of it: less wages, less maternity leave.

And we as taxpayers get screwed by paying for her support for at least the next 18 years.

TANF has time limits.

While pregnancy may be unplanned a birth is not anymore. Abortion is cheap and readily available in most of the US now.

That said I don't really have side on this. I don't really see the US going more european and having long vacations and maternity leave. And I've not really had a problem more with one gender or the other at work. Yes women are more likely to leave to care for a child. But lots of people change jobs every 3-7 years. It is the only way to get a decent raise. And loosing a worker to a child is better than losing them to the competition (assuming it was a good worker).

I have noticed my best workers and coworkers tend to have mental issues. So the saying 'you don't have to be crazy to work here but it helps.' has some truth to it.

Of the nine women in my department to take Maternity Leave over the past 20 years, ONE has returned from it.