Maternity Leave.

[LauraB78]

Ok, so I know this has been talked about a MILLION times, but I am curious how maternity leave works for each person on this board. Where do you live, what is your companies policy, paid or unpaid,& duration? This sparked my interest through another post I read, so I decided to start a new post to ask instead of hijacking someone else's post. This doesn't apply to me, I am not currently pregnant. But I am SUPER curious for feedback. Thanks all! Hope everyone is well!

[LosingMyMindInGA]

OH and the first one I lived in Virginia, second one in Georgia

[LauraB78]

I agree that the US maternity leave isn't great & definitely leaves room for a lot of reform, BUT I find that when push comes to shove, having babies is a decision, and SHOULD be a financial decision as well. It is NOT an employers responsibility or choice for women to pop out child(ren). BUT I am torn, I feel like women should have some sort of paid leave, but I guess in Canada, they get a YEAR off PAID and that seems excessive to me. I would HATE to be an employer in Canada.. That's FOR SURE! =)

[Limonada]

I'm in Canada and we get a year off here, paid through employment insurance benefits.  It's a far cry from my regular salary, but it's certainly enough to live on, combined with DH's income.

I really cherish this time to be with my little boy, see him achieve all of those first milestones.  My little guy is 5.5 months old and I'll be back to work in February 2011.  When I was on maternity leave the last time, I was actually raring to get back to work at the end of the year and I suspect the same will be true this time - I really enjoy my career and can't imagine being a SAHM full-time - but that's just me.  I truly admire SAHM's because I know through my small taste of it, being on mat leave, that it's hard, hard work!!

I really hope that things change for your girls in the US with regards to maternity leave and benefits:  I can't imagine returning to work after just a few short weeks!!

[jschoch8]

i live in NJ and the fmla is for 26 weeks. My company pays for 13 weeks, so i will not be getting paid for the other 13 weeks (taking the whole 26). I am also taking off the 4 weeks before her birth, using my short term disability benefits. the short term disability and the 13 weeks paid are my full salary.

[bluegenie2003]

I would kill to have a whole year to be able to stay home with Braeden. I"m lucky in that I'm a teacher, and the timing worked so that when my maternity leave ended (unpaid) summer had started, so I'm able to stay home with him until he's 16 weeks. However, that's coming up quick, in just 4 weeks, and I'm already dreading going back and leaving him. I love my job, but he's my world right now, and I can't imagine leaving him for 8 hours a day :-(

[Steph_b]

I work in New Hampshire and I get 12 weeks off with FMLA.  6 week are paid at 80% salery.  the rest of the time I can either use my earned time, or use unpaid time off.  I also have the option of going back part time to extend my leave.  I am taking the first 8 weeks off, and then going back 20 hours a week for the next 8 weeks instead of taking 12 weeks completely off.