In Romania the mothers got 2 years to stay home . And they receive 80% of the salary (last 12 months) from the state.

In my country, the maternity leave is 12 months. Paid. Paternity leave is 9 weeks, but the father can "take" some of the mother's 12 months if they prefer. Then either parent can take parental leave until the child is 3 years old (not on full pay but still a good amount, like 60 or 70%). The government subsidies the companies, and an employee CANNOT be fired when on any of those leaves, by law. America is so backward sometimes.

In Slovakia maternity leave lasts 3 years. It starts 6 weeks before due date. For 34 weeks mother is paid almost 100% of the salary (in case she has a job). For the rest of ML mother gets 370 euros per month. Not so bad.

In Israel we have 12 weeks pay leave, but you can stay home for 6 months without being fired. My self, at the end of the first 3 months, I almost got crazy. I did not want to go back to work, just did not want to stay with the baby alone for one more second. It's good to have the option to choose.

In Norway you were entitled to 12 weeks from 1956, before that it was up to each employer but 10-12 weeks was common. My sister was born 1990, and from then on you would get 28 weeks maternity leave on full pay. Now, 2021, you get 49 weeks at 100% pay, or 59 weeks at 80%. The mother has to take at least 6 weeks directly after the birth, and has the sole right to 15 of these 49 weeks,. The father (other parent) has the sole right to 15 weeks too, and the family will lose these weeks if he doesn't take them. The remaining 19 weeks will be shared between the parents as they see fit. And the parents have the right to unpaid leave/reduced work hours until the child is three, and to be let back to his/her work full time after this period. . PS: The Swedish permission system is better than the Norwegian one. Especially for multiple births.

That sucks! In Europe it's mostly a year or even two. I have no idea how can anyone leave barely 3 months old baby, that is just cruel. Maybe you could fight to change that law, it's not natural. Sometimes, I get so angry at tv portrait of business women who can't wait to get to work right after having baby! They make it hard for every other woman.

Slovakia has 3 years. 8 Months you get 80% of your salary. Of course you can go back to the work when you want, but if not, you have 3 years, untill your baby goes to the kindergarden.

When I had my daughter, I only could be a 24/7 father two weeks (that was the standard in Spain for a father -not for a mother-) and not in a row: due to responsibility at work (and at home), I had to split them. And yes, that broke my heart for some time... but life ain't easy, right?

people who say just don't have kids are actually part of the problem!! Also when you say " I don't want to cover for you just because you have kids " you totally miss the point!! this is not a fight between parents and non parents! it's a fight for your rights!!! it's the company's job to find a way to cover the person and if they don't care about the parents, they will not care about you also if you need a sick leave!! it's all wrong and you shouldn't be opposite, no matter if you have kids or not! it's about your rights as workers! rights that in other countries are completely logical! By the way I don't have kids and I come from a much smaller country and not rich at all! these things are standard!

Wow, yet another time I'm glad I'm NOT American. I am British. I am expecting my first child in May. I am finishing work at the end of this month, taking a month of accrued holiday and then starting my maternity leave in May. I will return to work February next year. We can take 52 weeks in UK but only the first 39 weeks are paid. My employer do full pay for 6 weeks, half pay for 20 weeks, and the final 13 weeks are Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) which is the £151.20pw. Some employers offer better packages, some just offer the basic as stated in the article (6 weeks at 90% and then 33 weeks at £151.20pw). But all women are entitled to take up to 52 weeks off. Right now I wouldn't want to take the 52 weeks and have 13 weeks unpaid, however it's nice to know I have that flexibility to be able to do that if I'm not ready to leave the baby, and my fiancé and I can save enough money up to cope on his salary alone for that time.

Norway's system is flexible and generous. Mothers can take 49 weeks at full pay or 59 weeks at 80% pay, and fathers can take between zero and 10 weeks depending on their wives' income. Together, parents can receive an additional 46 weeks at full pay or 56 weeks at 80% of their income.

The hypocrites who wax dramatic about every life is precious

In Bulgaria you have 2 years maternity leave, in the first one the state pays you 80% of the net monthly salary you received in the past 24 months before the maternity leave. The second year is at minimal wage. The father has 2 weeks payed leave after the baby is born. At the end of the two years, the mother can use accumulated payed leave days, which at minimum are 20 days per year. And the mother can take payed sick days before the birth, some even take the whole 9 months, depending on the case.

These "critical opinions" shouldn't even be displayed. Most of them don't have any empathy.

I’m currently pregnant and they do 12 weeks here ONLY if you have the fmla hours. I have a disability that requires me to miss work at times so I won’t even get the full 12 weeks. 😔

brutal!!! thats just uncivilized. here we get up to 3 years. for the mother AND the father.

I honestly was there I didn't know how hard it would be. I was leader in my field but had to make the decision down the road to take a less paying job and my husband who was a stay at home dad went back to working. I have 4 kids now and balance work and family better. No one can tell you how much it changes when it happens but for me it was one of working telling me I wish my mom worked less and spent more time with me when I was little. I cried so hard that day but I got it. Sometimes it takes one hard lesson to know it's Quality of life we do it for. I am so sorry it hurt you and know why you waited to say something. You weren't wrong for feeling that way it just hard.

Unfortunate that Greg Stephan's mom didn't think about it.

My wife went back to work after about 12 weeks and I took paternity leave. We both really enjoyed it. Second kid we switched. Women do not HAVE to stay home, stop shaming.

The US just suck. The stories in the comments are unbelievable - asking a torn open, bleeding and lactating new mother to come into work is insane.

Some people don't have maternity leave at all. I'm in the USA. At my Firm if you don't work you don't get paid and if you don't work for weeks or months.. you'll be replaced. I had my son on a Friday and was back to work that Monday. I didn't even need to take a sick day, thank god. I was answering emails while sitting next to him in the NICU. One week later he was home and I was telecommuting. And by 2 weeks post birth I was back in the office. If it wasn't for COVID he would have been with me in a rocker or something because I have my own office, but thanks to COVID I didn't want to test it. That would have been a year ago this month.

In mexico we get 12 weeks, funny the USA does too

I got 6 weeks of paid(all my vacation I saved) and two weeks unpaid when my ob refuse to allow me back due to postpartum.

Mother of three here. I got one week off without pay after the birth of my child. They hired me knowing I was pregnant, knew I would have to go to medical appointments so they put me on a 5 to 2 am shift, and then I was made to feel like I was lucky they held my position for that week I spent recovering from child birth. I later left that job and joined the military. When my son died, I was given six weeks off to help deal with all that comes with that nightmare (that never seems to go away). I dont know how to feel about her having to go back to work after 12 weeks. Good for her? Sorry? Congratulations on her healthy baby? I am not beating her up. Things change over time - some for the better, some not. The primary thing is when you HAVE to make it work, you do. And then you just keep going, hoping that it is true that things wont always be like this. And on the other side of it now, things did get better. Except that death thing. Nothing changes that.

Might be kind of unpopular to say, but I think the problem is more that we have created a system in which in order for most people to survive, they have to have 2 incomes. That is not to say that woman should be the one to stay home... just that it is sad that parents are forced to choose between living on a shoe string, or making their kids "latchkey kids" even at 2 years old. We lost something when we made "equality" mean that both parents had to live the traditionally "male" role rather than making it ok for both/all genders to choose either the work or home role. I loved the years my dad was home to raise me, even if it ended when I started school.

You aren't forced to return to work. Some people take this time to stay at home for a few years.

American feminists went the wrong direction. In France, they pushed for more maternity leave, not gender equality. Gender equality will get you the same amount of maternity leave as men.

People are paid to work. People are not paid to not work. Seems fair to me

I had 4 months. Suck it up!