Paid Parental Leave Is Good For Business Full Frontal on TBS

[Newest Reality]

You know, sometimes you get the feeling that you are living in the backwards shithole country that some deluded maniacs call other countries, at least in some ways.

Having looked at all the charts and statistics that compare many countries concerning many aspects of life and its quality, it becomes obvious that the, "'Murica! Yeah! We're number one!" crowd doesn't have a clue as to the truth of the matter.

In fact, in some cases, America has become more like a 3rd-World country than the Simulation reveals. It is amazing, really. It is like living in the Matrix and nobody can tell you what it is because you have to see it for yourself. In that sense, people being convinced otherwise are probably not open to accepting the real status and situation here.

This is only one, small example:

Guess which country is the only industrialized nation without paid parental leave? Did you guess America? Great job! Despite overwhelming evidence that it’s actually GOOD for overall company morale and the economy, America refuses to institute any type of paid leave for new parents and instead leaves it up to corporations to figure out what’s best (read: cheapest) for their employees. What could possibly go wrong?

[Jirel]

1. Unpopular opinion, but I disagree about paid parental leave.

The U.S. is missing a LOT of things that other industrialized nations provide, not just paid parental leave. While it would be great to bring the U.S. up to snuff with the rest of the whole danged world in all these respects, it's not all going to happen at once, and priorities matter.

Having kids is a life choice, just like buying a house or going to Spain. (I hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth now. But that doesn't change the facts.) It does not deserve priority over things people NEED to survive, not just want. Let's get universal health coverage going - WHICH WILL COVER PREGNANT WOMEN AND NEW MOTHERS, taking away a huge burden of paying COBRA when they do take leave, making it even more urgent for many to get back to work fast. Let's have a sane disability insurance system so workers who have to take FMLA or become permanently unable to work don't have to rely on (a) their company providing private coverage, (b) their electing to buy the private coverage, and/or (c) going through a process of at least 1-2 years to get Social Security Disability as their lives are falling apart. Let's do something to require sick pay. Let's get up to par with most industrialized countries for unemployment benefits. THEN, maybe, we should consider whether there is a social benefit in a warming and overpopulated world, in giving ONLY parents this special benefit that encourages a rising population.

[Newest Reality]

2. Thanks for your comments.

Your priorities make sense, agreed or not. I am glad you have given it some thought.

I do have one question though, concerning parental leave:

Do you think that the bonding process between mother/parents and child is a fundamentally crucial factor as far as the health of our society in general is concerned? Does that have a pragmatic, mental health-oriented value overall, even though it is not immediately obvious? It is the kind of thing that plays out over a lifetime, so it is easy to overlook.