Trump to call for six weeks paid maternity leave

[kwillia]

My first husband's uncle was a businessman, more specifically he was a business flipper - as in, he would buy a failing business, turn it around, sell it for an enormous profit, then move on to the next project. He was always leery about hiring women, and had only one female manager that I'm aware of in his whole career. His wife was even more emphatic about this than he was.

The reason: women let their family and personal lives interfere with their careers. They are usually the primary caregivers for the children; they have husbands who resent their work; they get pregnant; etc. Men, by contrast, are typically career-first and a better investment. Which explains why they generally get paid more.

The business of business is...business. It's not to facilitate your personal life, or make sure you have plenty of time to bond with your baby. Businesses are there to provide a product/service, the end. I'm interested in when this started, the idea that businesses had to be all about their employees' home/leisure/personal lives. I'll put it on my long list of subjects to research when I get some time.

Whenever my sister gets on the soapbox about 'EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN" I have asked her to give me an example she has run into over the past 25+ years she's been in working that she knows this has happened (she's currently a director of medical billing and her pay rate is no different than her male counterpart). She couldn't give me any examples. I then said that I've always been leery of those that make such claims because I do not think it would be fair to pay Joe Smith and Mary Doe the same pay compensation even though they both have the same job description if Mary Doe happens to be a mom and calls out regularly, can't work extra when needed and/or doesn't focus/produce on the same level due to family illnesses, field trips, school events, daycare issues, rough nights and no sleep, etc.

And yes I know that there are fathers who handle some of those same things but females and males are undisputedly wired differently. Female brains naturally multi-task whereas a male brain tends to "one track" which can affect focus and productivity.

My sis can't really argue when I put it in that perspective.

 

[Clem72]

Whenever my sister gets on the soapbox about 'EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN" I have asked her to give me an example she has run into over the past 25+ years she's been in working that she knows this has happened (she's currently a director of medical billing and her pay rate is no different than her male counterpart). She couldn't give me any examples. I then said that I've always been leery of those that make such claims because I do not think it would be fair to pay Joe Smith and Mary Doe the same pay compensation even though they both have the same job description if Mary Doe happens to be a mom and calls out regularly, can't work extra when needed and/or doesn't focus/produce on the same level due to family illnesses, field trips, school events, daycare issues, rough nights and no sleep, etc.

And yes I know that there are fathers who handle some of those same things but females and males are undisputedly wired differently. Female brains naturally multi-task whereas a male brain tends to "one track" which can affect focus and productivity.

My sis can't really argue when I put it in that perspective.

Always been the sensible approach to the issue. Like for like, we are paid the same. But on average we are not the same so it's not reasonable to expect average wages to be the same.

 

[LC_Sulla]

100% agree with Gilligan's post about where the money comes from.

 

[LC_Sulla]

Wow....way to go Gilligan! An actual intelligent and well thought out post!

Maybe there is hope for you yet?!

Not if yr the one judging, moron.

Come on, you two! Be a shining example of how two people with vastly different outlooks can still treat each other with respect.

Who's going to be brave and be first?

 

[vraiblonde]

I don't follow them much of the time when it gets like this, but I'm guessing the argument is either that it is not enough (UI is much lower than the normal paycheck) or it's being paid for out of dollars meant for "poor, hard-working, underprivileged people's entitled benefits" instead of out of the profit of the companies involved.

They haven't gotten that far. At this point they're just jumping around going, "Boo! Donald Trump! Boo! Hitler!! Satan!!!" They haven't really solidified their position beyond that.

 

[LC_Sulla]

What's hilarious is watching libprogs bouncing around like St. Vitus dancers to criticize Trump calling for maternity leave....when they're the ones who've been bitching about it for years. So now that Satan Hitler Trump wants to do it, suddenly it's the WORST IDEA EVER!!!



Trump should call for a $15 minimum wage, and praise Obamacare. Then the libprogs would start bitching and crying about what a stupid idea that is as well.

Kudos to Trump for his maternity leave policy! Hopefully, he will propose (and implement) so many liberal policies that he wins in an historic landside. That will really be a huge victory for conservatives.

 

[vraiblonde]

Kudos to Trump for his maternity leave policy! Hopefully, he will propose (and implement) so many liberal policies that he wins in an historic landside. That will really be a huge victory for conservatives.

Thank you. All I'm looking for is less hypocrisy and reflexive hysteria.

Here's the thing about "conservatives":

They come in a lot of different flavors.

Not all conservatives are Bible thumping fundies. Not all of them are against same-sex marriage. Not all of them are anti-abortion. Many conservatives - and no, I don't have an exact number - think government should get out of our lives and stop trying to control and regulate everything we do.

They get called "neo-cons" and "alt-right" and "RINOs" and a bunch of other things that nobody knows what they even mean. So some conservatives will be thrilled to have Trump as president, with all his policies and platforms, and others will be losing their minds because they think he's a libprog in sheep's clothing.

 

[Gilligan]

Come on, you two! Be a shining example of how two people with vastly different outlooks can still treat each other with respect.

Who's going to be brave and be first?

Since I'm nothing if not a true gentleman, I'll let the lady go first.

 

[Lurk]

They get called "neo-cons" and "alt-right" and "RINOs" and a bunch of other things that nobody knows what they even mean.

I think I prefer "cis-conservative" in this modern age.

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Can someone tell me what is standard paid maternity leave? For like, most businesses? I've spent most of my career either in federal employ or working as a contractor, so my experience is like - so what?

Mine keeps dropping.

7 years ago or so paternity leave was 6 months paid. Then 6 weeks paid. Now it's 12 weeks unpaid.

 

[Gilligan]

I think I prefer "cis-conservative" in this modern age.

I'm still OK with "knuckle-dragging Neanderthal cretin", so.....

 

[Christy]

The business of business is...business. It's not to facilitate your personal life, or make sure you have plenty of time to bond with your baby. Businesses are there to provide a product/service, the end. I'm interested in when this started, the idea that businesses had to be all about their employees' home/leisure/personal lives. I'll put it on my long list of subjects to research when I get some time.

Times are a changing. Many of the large businesses are moving towards better work/life balance benefits for their employees. I believe the maternity leave for the company I work for is 16 weeks. Paternity leave was 3 weeks, however they just instituted 16 weeks paid family leave which can be used as extra paternity leave, to be able to take care of a sick child, sibling, parent, or domestic partner. We also have short term disability, which is 100% paid for by the company, then long term which you kick in for at a small cost.

This certainly isn't financially feasible for a lot of companies, so I'm sure glad mine can do it.

 

[Gilligan]

Times are a changing. Many of the large businesses are moving towards better work/life balance benefits for their employees. I believe the maternity leave for the company I work for is 16 weeks. Paternity leave was 3 weeks, however they just instituted 16 weeks paid family leave which can be used as extra paternity leave, to be able to take care of a sick child, sibling, parent, or domestic partner. We also have short term disability, which is 100% paid for by the company, then long term which you kick in for at a small cost.

This certainly isn't financially feasible for a lot of companies, so I'm sure glad mine can do it.

Wow. I certainly "wish" my company could offer those kinds of benefits but we can't even touch a package like that..the cost easily exceeds annual profits. Lucky you.

 

[vraiblonde]

This certainly isn't financially feasible for a lot of companies, so I'm sure glad mine can do it.

Thanks for reminding me.

That's the thing: there are great companies to work for that will give you all kinds of terrific bennies because they can afford to do that in order to attract top talent. Other companies, not so much. It's the same with pay: some companies pay a boodle for their talent; other companies don't, and that should be their prerogative based on their business model.

So a large global DoD contractor can afford to give their employees extended maternity/paternity leave. What about a small business with a limited budget and small staff? They can't just stick someone in your job for weeks or months because...there isn't anyone. And they couldn't pay an extra person even if there were.

So how's that going to work?

 

[TruthSayer]

Wow, a leftist populist policy proposal to satisfy women and prove that he and not Hillary is the women's candidate.

Pathetic.

It's irrelevant how this will be paid for. This should be rejected as a government intrusion in free markets.

Is there any pro-market position this man will take that doesn't make him look like a leftist control freak, just like the rest of them? Why is this embraced? It wouldn't be if a Dem were proposing it.

 

[GURPS]

Is there any pro-market position this man will take that doesn't make him look like a leftist control freak, just like the rest of them? Why is this embraced? It wouldn't be if a Dem were proposing it.

Trumps not a Conservative

 

[TruthSayer]

Trumps not a Conservative

True enough. I'd think this was obvious since day one. That's the point I'm trying to drive home if it wasn't obvious.

This is how government and culture moves left. You put up two abhorrent dopes for president, one more leftist than the other -- so much more so leftist that the other one by comparison seems acceptable. Then comes the mental gymnastics to convince oneself that he's not so bad, and you must vote for him. Just look at the piece that Board Mommy posted. That is the embodiment of the pathology right there. Thanks to Duverger's law there really are only two candidates for president, which ensures that one of them is elected and we continue our march left.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

[kwillia]

Thanks for reminding me.

That's the thing: there are great companies to work for that will give you all kinds of terrific bennies because they can afford to do that in order to attract top talent. Other companies, not so much. It's the same with pay: some companies pay a boodle for their talent; other companies don't, and that should be their prerogative based on their business model.

So a large global DoD contractor can afford to give their employees extended maternity/paternity leave. What about a small business with a limited budget and small staff? They can't just stick someone in your job for weeks or months because...there isn't anyone. And they couldn't pay an extra person even if there were.

So how's that going to work?

It isn't. Contracting companies that keep expanding their emplyee benefits get to a point where they can no longer compete with contract bids from companies with lower overhead expenses. I've seen it happen time and time again over the past 30 years.

 

[SamSpade]

So how's that going to work?

My guess is that like Obamacare, there's gonna have to be a threshold.

I'm generally against government mandating this, because the best way to address it is for companies to offer it.
The only problem is that the trend is often to curtail bennies as the economy goes down.

 

[GURPS]

Contracting companies that keep expanding their employee benefits get to a point where they can no longer compete with contract bids from companies with lower overhead expenses.

indeed ...

... the glory days of the 80's / 90's are long gone
... as democrats move more and more money from defense to domestic programs

we may have better more advanced equipment, but IMHO we will be entering another cycle of Carter Years for Mil Budgets