UK and US maternity benefits:a discussion

I hate to burst your bubble Squirrel but bah to statutory maternity pay!  try paying 200 quid a week rent on 100 quid a week SMP! I really don't WANT to go back to full time work when my baby is only a few weeks old but may have no option.  I don't know what the maternity provisions are in the US, but it seems to me the UK provisions are not much to shout about! OK some employers might offer more than the minmum but they don't have to and mine doesn't. In some other EU countries the legal entitlements are a LOT more generous. 

And as for Father's pay - it is full pay for 1 week, and £100 total for the 2nd week. That's all that they are required to give by law. £100 aint much.

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Anyone know what the maternity leave is in the US?

12 weeks off, and they don't have to pay you anything, they just have to hold your job.  Most places you can get short term disability (30 day pay at 2/3 pay).  My job gave me 6 weeks full pay. 

Give me a European country's maternity leave anyday.  I would've loved to have 3 months off, even if it wasn't full pay. 

I won't make any more sggestions in case I get shot down in flames again.

Aww hon. I think you misunderstood what Britwife and Marlespo were saying. They weren't saying it to shoot you down. They were just giving their version of things. Please don't take offense. I'm positive they didn't mean it that way.

You're right Squirrel this thread is about positive things to do with life in the UK and I didn't mean to inject a negative note. As I said I don't know what provisions exist in the US - I suspect as with many things, the legal provisions vary from State to State and I expect a lot is left up to employer discretion. The point of my post wasn't to say the US is any better in this respect, just that I, as a Brit, don't see the SMP provisions here as a selling point for the UK. I guess I feel extra strongly about this as it's affecting me right now. The employer, as you probably know, claims most of the SMP payments back from the Government so it costs them very little at all, yet many employers do not pay anything extra and I am not the only woman I know in the position of  having to consider a return to work full time after only a few weeks, not even enough time for stiches to heal properly or to establish a feeding/sleeping pattern. Yes the tax credits are quite good but not enough to give anyone extra time at home with their baby. Anyway I'll shut up now before this gets moved to Pettifog, and get back to my heavy breathing.  

Materninty benefit in the US?  None.   In my experience they give you the time off but you only got paid for any time that you had accrued through vacation, sick days and personal days.  I took three weeks off with Emily, one of them unpaid. 

12 weeks off, and they don't have to pay you anything, they just have to hold your job.  Most places you can get short term disability (30 day pay at 2/3 pay).  My job gave me 6 weeks full pay. 

Give me a European country's maternity leave anyday.  I would've loved to have 3 months off, even if it wasn't full pay. 

Actually, they only have to old *a* job, not your job.  It is a federal rule that they have to give you six weeks off, but you don't get full pay and the six weeks is only because you are considered to be "sick" and in recovery, thus signed off of work for whatever period. 

The woman I worked for when I was a nanny actually chose to have a c-section with her last child partially based on the fact that she would get an additional week off to recover from her employer if she got a note from her doctor. 

There's no contest for me.  UK is best on maternity all the way.

Squirrel:

If things are that tight you should really consider if you can afford a baby at all, they are very expensive.

Thanks for that advice, Squirrel.

The US under Clinton finally signed the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) which allows by law unpaid time off.  It's not brilliant, it's hard to get and to use but it is there.  Companies like Fannie Mae have great plans for new mothers.  Working Mother magazine (I think that's it) also publishes a yearly review of the best companies to work for as a female and a mom.  It's a good source for looking into potential employers if moving to the USA.  Government jobs also tend to be better overall for benefits or some unionized positions. 

If things are that tight you should really consider if you can afford a baby at all, they are very expensive.

Thanks for that advice, Squirrel.

I think we've all learned something here.   

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I think the point was that in an ideal world it wouln't be 'for just a few weeks' but would be for a more sensible six months, but few people can afford to take that much time.  Most people work, because they rely on both incomes. 
Having a new baby is exhausting.  It takes more than a few weeks to not only recover from the pregnancy and labour, but the energy it takes to care for a newborn is indescribable.  It is a blow, and to expect a person to go back to work right away in order to make ends meet is frankly expecting too much. 
Yes, people give money, but no where near what it takes to pay the ordinary bills on top of what it costs to bring a new baby home. 

We got a total of £20 for my son's birth. My husband couldn't take that 2nd week off because we couldn't afford to lose that much money. A lower income, even for a few short weeks as you say, is still a cutting, horrible blow when you are living paycheck to paycheck with a new baby. £100 wouldn't come close to covering our costs. We don't have a lot of money. And to say that most people save up for a baby? Not in my experience. Child Benefit is about £16 a week. Yes thats a help, but not enough to sacrifice more than a weeks pay for.

I'm not saying the US or UK is better - I'm just suggesting that your assumptions about new parents' financial problems might be a bit off. Again, from my experience as a new mother, knowing a lot of new mothers.

Just got to say that if only frugal who people who could 'afford' to have babies had babies, well, then there would be no new babies.