January 2018 babies - 43 BFPs!

[mandaa1220]

In the US, the only thing you can qualify for is FMLA (family medical leave act), which is 12 weeks unpaid. It simply holds your job. In order to qualify, you have to have been at your employer for 1 year and they have to have over 50 employees. Remember that's unpaid though. If you have some vacation or sick time saved, you can use that. Sometimes you can qualify for disability for 6 or 8 (really 5 or 7 weeks with the waiting week, which maxes out at $170 a week.

I've known people that had to return to work in a week because they didn't qualify for FMLA and would otherwise lose their job or simply couldn't afford it.

My state is phasing in the best family leave policy in the country starting in 2018, which when it is completely phased in by 2021 will be 12 weeks at 66% your pay. I won't qualify for it though, because as a government employee, my union would have to negotiate for it, but the governor wouldn't allow us to include it.

It sucks.

 

[London Kiwi]

Mandaa that really does suck!

Everytime I say to people that I have to go back to work after 5 months and they say wow that's so early! I remind them that other Countries have it way worse.
A lot of the mothers in our group of friends are permanent stay at home mums and have been for years which absolutely suits them. I am a very career Focused person and enjoy the extra pay (not to mention need it to survive!) so going back to work is just a given for me.
Would be nice if I could have 9-12months off but we simply can't afford it so back to work for me it is

 

[mandaa1220]

Ive been saving my paid time off for years to prep for having a baby. I think that I'll end up taking between 4 to 6 months off this time (some paid, some unpaid) because I went back after 10 weeks last time and it was soooooo hard.

 

[Sarahcake]

Mandaa that is absolutely shocking I'm sorry it's like that for you. How on earth do you ladies survive over there, genuinely, everything seems to be money orientated, you have to hemmorage cash to have a decent life

Mine is just maternity allowance at £124 a week, which I'm totally ok with. For the last 18 months, my partner has been full time and me part time bringing home £500 a month anyway so this is actually a bit more than what I'm currently getting in my role right now.

 

[impatient1]

We are very lucky in Canada to have the maternity benefits we have at 55% with a maximum of $543 a week for 12 months. There is talk of the option to extend them to 18 months with the same amount of income spread out over the longer period instead however it hasn't been put into affect yet or stated if it will be.

 

[JessyG]

We survived on the maternitu pay last time so i am sure we will this time too. I main worry is even though my DD gets her funded hours at private nursery its still £150 per month and £400 over summer. I have decided i will take her out over summer i am not paying 400 per month when i am at home and i am trying to get her into school nursery in january when i go on mat leave which will mean i have no childcare costs which would be such a help!!!

 

[JessyG]

Thats a scary system mandaa. Do employers give any maternity pay at all?

 

[London Kiwi]

Jessy that's interesting about child care in Scotland... I'm looking at about £50-60 a day down here I'm on the outskirts of Kent not even right in London - it's so ridiculous!!

 

[koj518]

Maternity leave in the US is ridiculous. I was talking to my friend from Canada and Japan and they were both SHOCKED to hear the treatment we get.

For those who are lucky, if you do stay at a company for at least a year, you do get 8 weeks paid maternity leave (some places do 12 weeks), and for the 4 weeks that are not paid, there are some insurance policies that give you partial pay. But 12 weeks is still too short in my opinion...

 

[mandaa1220]

I do not know if any companies that give paid maternity leave. I know there are some in the country, but none that I'm personally aware of.

 

[mandaa1220]

Most women I know go back to work between 6 to 8 weeks pp. 8 weeks for a csection and 6 weeks for a vaginal birth.

 

[London Kiwi]

All this talk has prompted me to call our local nursery!
I'm glad I did... They said they already have a waiting list for next year.

I'm going for a visit on Thurs 10th. They confirmed the cost per day is £49.15

 

[Daisies11]

It totally stuns me that for the US being such a massive global presence and a country that appears to be so modern, that there can be such a dated approach to maternity leave. I really don't know how you ladies cope with having to go back so soon in order to keep your job and finances afloat enough to survive. It's one thing if you choose that, then fair enough, but just a few weeks is such a short space of time to have attempted to get to some sort of 'normality' after having a baby.

At my company we also get stat maternity pay. I'm going to finish just before Christmas since we close then for a couple of weeks, when I'll be 37 weeks, and hoping to go back Jan 2019 so have the full year off. Last time I was on better maternity pay terms as I was in the public sector, and my new place is private, but I went back after 10 months as we were moving home and needed to get the money back. There'll be no more babies for us after this one so I really want to max it out and make the most of it all.

 

[Sarahcake]

Calling the nurseries already is a good idea, I had no idea there would be waiting lists already, that's crazy!

A friend i work with is Romanian and she was asking me how long I plan on staying off and she was horrified when I said 6 months. Apparently in Romania, you get 2 years maternity at full pay :O

How on earth does something like this differ so dramatically from country to country?

 

[London Kiwi]

Yeah It's def one of the Worst in Europe. A friend in Copenhagen gets 18months paid and I think in Germany they get a long time too.

The UK are miles behind and the US even further behind us!

 

[Sarahcake]

It's just as bad with childcare I think. Ok, so we have to go back to work and leave our children with a nursery/ childminder... Let's pay such an extortionate amount to do that that it's bearly worth going back to work for!

I know there were some childcare changes coming in about every child now being entitled to 30 hours per week free but I don't know what age that starts, I'm guessing 2 to coincide with the Me2 funding.

 

[JessyG]

In scotland that doesnt coke into effect until 2018-2020 and its age 3 unless the child is considered a vulnerable child or parents sre on benefits and can get funding from 2. I think anyway.

 

[Daisies11]

In England all kids will get 30 hours per week free term time only (so 36 weeks a year). You can split it down with most childcare providers over 52 weeks though if you prefer at a lesser number of hours, it would be around 20 a week. They get it from the start of the next academic term after they turn 3, so my little boy turns 3 next May and gets the free hours from April. It's starting this September.

Some 2 year olds get 15 hours free a week but you have to be on pretty minimal income to qualify. I believe the idea is that it's to encourage low income families to return to work since the childcare would be covered for part of the week.

 

[Sarahcake]

Yeah that's the Me2 funding Daisies. My son had it as I was a lone parent on low income, and it did indeed do what was intended, I went back to work.

Ah well, so it's from 3? Doesn't help so much now but hey ho, we will figure a way there's a good nursery attached to my new work so need to find out the fees and things.

 

[Daisies11]

Good that you've got a good nursery attached to where you're going to be working Sarah. I bet that will save a good couple of hours a week in fees since you can drop them off just before work and pick up straight after.

Childcare is so expensive though! I totally believe that having kids is a choice and so if you're having to pay out for childcare that too was part of the decision but it still gets me that we pay out more a month for 3 days then what we did on the mortgage in our last house!