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by DoreenMichele 1039 days ago
Health care is crazy expensive in the US. If you effectively addressed that, an issue which can leave The Have Nots bankrupt for needing medical care for a serious condition, you would go a long ways towards redressing income inequality.
1 comments
andsoitis 1039 days ago
Yes but notice it is about reducing expenses not about income.
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DoreenMichele 1039 days ago
Last I checked, the US was on a very short list of countries without maternity leave and the only developed/wealthy country without it and also on a short list of developed countries without universal health coverage.

It's not about reducing expenses. It's about trying to establish a social safety net that most countries that see themselves as more civilized than the US already have and it's part of what reduces inequality between The Haves and Have Nots in most places.

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andsoitis 1038 days ago
> It's not about reducing expenses.

Look, I'm only reporting what Pew Research purports to be on Amercans' minds. If you think Pew is wrong or that Americans have the wrong view, that's fine. I'm not arguing that.

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ac29 1038 days ago
The US has maternity/paternity leave via the FMLA, but its not very long (12 weeks) and its not paid. Small businesses (<50 employees) are also exempt.
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camgunz 1038 days ago
Unpaid leave isn't what anyone means here. It's not helpful to tell a wage worker to take FMLA for three months and thereby lose a quarter of your yearly income.
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andsoitis 1038 days ago
Small business owners fight against these things, while big corporations typically provide paid parental leave.

Something tells me that people, when they have to foot the bill, are not willing to pay others when they're not doing work.

Even in a place like The Netherlands, you only get paid for the first 9 out of 26 weeks of parental leave, and only 70% of your salary at that: https://business.gov.nl/regulation/leave-schemes/#:~:text=Em....

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camgunz 1038 days ago
It's a little hard to explain NL's policy, but basically what most people do (and hilariously what everyone expects you to do) is:

- take 6 weeks off (get paid for one)

- take one day off a week for the next 63 weeks at 70% pay

This is way better than FMLA, and it's also not even close to the best policy in the EU (ex: I think Spain and France give you 16 weeks at full pay).

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