Yep, glad to feel seen/heard and not alone. I went back to my law firm after 4 weeks, following a c section delivery, and to be clear: it was an *UNpaid 4 weeks away. No job protection, as firm was too small to fall under family medical leave act (FMLA). But that law school debt repayment plan sure AF didnāt stop, so I had to scoot back.
You're kidding? That's insane. 4 weeks after my C-section I still had trouble getting in and out of the shower. The troops want the bravery and resilience that you have.
It was more like āanxiety-fueled delusion.ā I regret it now, but was so desperate to maintain my career and the job market in my area was tight. I left actual law practice when my second was born. I went back after 4 wks with him, but then was like āI gotta get outta here!!ā and I interviewed for (and eventually got) a corporate job with amazing maternity benefits (which I never got to use, bc I was done having kids!) lol. I was 6 wks post c section with a belly band on over my wife-open pants and still healing surgical site. Ugh. When I told them (once hired) they were like āOMG!ā and I started at that company then when my son was 12 weeks. Wish Iād had 12 weeks off with each kid. Oh well! š¤·āāļø Iām seriously SO happy for women with great leave options.
Yep my husband could only get 2 weeks at partial pay. I was self-employed so I didn't make any money when I wasn't working. Thankfully my clients were awesome and I could take the baby with me (one mom of a client would actually care for my son while I worked with hers) when my mom wasn't free or he was cluster feeding. Lots of multitasking.
Iām sorry you had to do that! Thatās great you were able to keep your baby with you. I had to stop breastfeeding at 14 weeks since my supply wouldnāt keep up while pumping at work, I needed him to latch, I felt like such a failure when I had to switch to formula.
His first meal was formula because he wouldn't latch and I was worn out from labor. We did a combo formula and breastfeeding (his latch was never the greatest and COVID cancelled my lactation appointments) until 9mo (too many teethš¤), then just formula until he could start regular milk.
I'm so sorry you felt that way and couldn't continue the path you wanted to. But you should never feel ashamed, the important part is that your baby is fed and happy and healthy, however you make that happen!
Thank you! I felt breastfeeding was so pushed on my at the hospital it took a few months to figure out I was holding myself to too high standards. My almost 2 year old is healthy and happy as can be.
I was back part time at 2 weeks and full time at 3 months as well. Iām just glad my boss lets me work from home for 6 months before Iām back in office. I work for amazing people who treat me like a human though. Baby will start daycare probably around 10 months old
Me too. I took 3 months off but was hit hard with post partum depression the day I had to leave my daughter at daycare to go back to work. I cried every day for the three months I was working till we moved and I was home with her for a bit till I found a new job at the new location. We in the US are definitely cheated when it comes to maternity leave.
Colorado just passed FAMLI paid leave so I got 8 weeks fully paid by my company, followed by 12 weeks capped at $1000 a week paid by the state of Colorado. I had a C section and my baby had to go on oxygen at home twice. When I went back to work he'd only been off home oxygen for a few weeks. I am so thankful to live in this state and eternally grateful to have been able to move out of the hellscape that Texas has become for women 10 years ago (grew up there).
Netherlands here.
6 fully paid weeks before due date, another 6 fully paid after and another 9 weeks paid 70%
It was nowhere near enough. I feel 1 year minimum should be where it's at.
The 6 weeks before too is so needed. I was driving in traffic when 9 months pregnant and it took me over an hour to get home. I wanted to pee so bad, I had BH contractions and just miserable driving like that.
I cried when i got home. It would have been so helpful to stop or even go part time or remote the last few weeks.
I worked up until my first was born (two weeks early). I didnāt know I was in early labor my whole work day as a special ed teacher, but I was so uncomfortable the whole day. I figured it out once my water broke that night.
With my second, I went on leave two weeks before my due date. She ended up coming a week early. That week off of work was amazing though.
You can choose 4, youāll get 8 after. I did that and she came one week early so I only had 3 weeks before and that as pretty short. But to make up I took 4 months after instead of 3. My company gives an addition to a 100% on top of the 70% by the government. My husband took 8 weeks (70%) pay. This new law is so much better!!
Dang you guys all have it made haha. Neither my husband and or myself has any sort of benefit like that. Iām just glad I have 60% pay through short term disability. I wish I had something more š„²
Would it have been possible to take additional unpaid time with your job staying secure? I think I can pad my time put to 5 months, but minimally 1 month would be fully unpaid. Thankfully, my position will be protected if I can make that work financially after the 4ish months of reduced pay.
Yes, there is still unpaid leave but that isn't worth it to me. I work to make money and working less means I would'nt be able to pull of the function Im currently occupying so I would need to find something else to do, and also less money. Using unpaid leave to just not work for another bunch of months without pay feels iffy to me. I would rather then just quit my job, but that's a personal preference as alot of people do use their unpaid leave to secure having a job after they're done with it.
As would I my friend, as would I. I think we have it as one of the worst in Europe on this front. Ofcourse nowhere near as bad as America or some other countries have it ofcourse, but still.
I truly believe a year minimum should be the standard, especially after a second or third child.
I live in Germany. Pregnant peopleās jobs are secured for 3 yearsā¦.plus you can use those 3 years anytime before the child is 8. (Itās not all paid though ā¦ 12-14 months is paid at a sliding scale).
Also the other parent can have 3 years unpaid if they want it.
And you get it for each child thereafter as well.
Horrific is the correct word. I can't help but think that many societal issues in the US could stem back to babies being ripped away from their mother's so young! How traumatic for everyone.
I also live in Canada and didn't get as much top up as you! You must have a great employer.
This seems like the right abound of time to me. On month 12 and itās finally getting better but it was physically and mentally torture going back after 12 weeks. Not right. I have a āgoodā job too! Good job Canada .
Enjoy your time with bb congratulations š«¶š»
Is this because of your company top up? This is not normal for everyone.
Usually itās up to 55% of your salary and there is a cap. The companies can top up.
What country are you in? If UK, would you be willing to share info privately? I am teyingbto collate data to improve the mat and pat leave in my company.
I'm also in Canada and got a good top up from my employer, but OPs is amazing. I think they may be with the federal government because I think they to used to do 90+% for 12 months, and with the recent addition of the 18 months option they must have added an additional small top up.
Here you can take 12 months at 55% pay or 18months at around 33% (it works out to same dollar amount as the 55% for 12 months). Pretty much all employees qualify for this (not if you are self employed though).
Many white collar jobs provide additional top ups. I hear frequently of 3-6 months at close to 100% and then nothing for the remainder.
I have a municipal job and got 75% for the first 12 months. It didn't even really feel like much of a pay decrease because I wasn't paying into the pension for that period.
It's important to note that the 12/18months is available for either parent (aside from the first 15 weeks (or maybe 17?) that go specifically to the birth parent). Also, there are bonus weeks available only if both parents take some time off.
Just to clarify slightly, itās not 55% of pay, but 55% of insurable earnings. So the maximum total pay for 12 months is just over $34,000 CAD for the year, even if your salary was higher.
This is my issue. Hello fellow Canadians. I have a 7 figure income. I took 18 months, topped up to 75% for the first 6. With the cap in place I'm making approximately 30% of my income after deductions. Because my income is on the higher end, I get next to nothing from child benefit credit.
Because of the cap on EI and the child benefit calculation based on last year's taxes, I have $50 left over every 2 weeks after paying my bills. That's not including gas and groceries. Luckily my partner can support us and this is a very minor problem compared to the criminal maternity leave they get in the states, but it still annoys me.
I hear you. 70% of the pre-tax maximum would be eaten up by the cost of a 1 bedroom apartment on the outskirts of my city. And with the cost of groceries, itās simply not doable without debt or a second supporting income.
I looked into returning to work early for this reason, but literally cannot find anyone willing to watch a baby under 12 months old. I signed up for 15 waitlists right when I got pregnant and am being told Iāll be lucky to get in before he needs to go to kindergarten. On the hunt for at home care now, but again, they donāt really accept young babies because of the legal ratios.
I got 9 weeks. I was a teacher at the time, and I got 8 because I ended up having an emergency c-section, but that ran into our spring break so I got 9. It was nowhere near enough time. I barely even felt physically healed enough to be back at work, much less leaving my baby.
6 weeks we as teachers donāt get paid maternity leave. The second day I was back I lost my job for next school year. After a lot of stress I have one lined up for next year. Point being I wish I would have taken more time and not cared about them or what they needed from me.
We get three days of maternity leave in my district (teacher in the US) but many states offer 12 weeks of leave. The three days of leave is honestly a slap in the face. Who would be ready to return after three days?
Nope!!! And my district wouldnāt pay into Paid Parental Leave. I had to use my own time. And I had just started the year prior so I only had a week of PTO.
Same: teacher at a CATHOLIC school and I got 6 weeks unpaid. Luckily my school (and principal) were very accommodating, but it created a financial strain. I was ready to go back, because I felt really isolated during my maternity leave, but that was an easier school than where Iām at now.
Teacher in the US here. I got 12 weeks but thankfully it ran into my summer break so I was home with my little one for 5 months total. It is unpaid though :(
We get 12-18 months paid at 55% of your income (for 12 months, and if you take the 18 months it's the same amount of money stretched out over 18 months).
Canada. I don't think only 12 months is enough.
Most daycares don't even take babies that are only 3 months old, that's tragic that Americans have to leave their babies so small. Idk how they breastfeed!
Yup. itās one of the reasons I decided to go back at 7 months. EI was a roughly 75% decrease in my salary. After my company top up ran out, it was a huge hit to our savings. My husband makes less than I do; so heās on parental leave for 6 months. Much less impact to our budget with him on leave.
Ya I took 9 months with my first, husband took the last 3, so 12 months total, Canada.
Second child, my husband and I overlapped for 4 months and then I took the rest of the year, partly unpaid because I took the 12 month pay.
I'm in America and breastfed, it was tough because I had to get my baby used to pumped milk in a bottle before maternity leave ended (3 mos) but once he got used to that, it was fine, I pumped they fed him pumped milk bottles. But trust me, I would have rather been home with my baby than working. I hated going back, it's always so depressing for me to go through that. Moms deserve more time than just 3 mos, and I know other American moms didn't really have a leave at all and that's so heartbreaking.
Yeah i dont have any paid leave at all. I am taking 6 weeks unpaid medical leave and I am funding it with the money I got after my dad died (it isnt much cause I wish I could just stay home for the year, im thabkful i have that option though i would'vepreferred my dad). It sucks immensely Im on week for and I want to cry thinking in 2 weeks i have to leave my precious baby girl and get ready to pump only š
I'm so sorry. It's such an injustice that mothers are so often put into positions like this š. There needs to be more value placed on mother-baby bonding time... and it's so wrong that like in your case, they'll hand out a slap in the face 6 week short leave time and have it be unpaid, on top of it.
We get 14 months of paid parental leave over here (European country). I took 12. There are additional modes for working parents that ensure you still get that leave wage on top of your regular wage if you return to work earlier. So that's what I did, too.
I actually enjoyed returning to work but sometimes I still think it was too early, however rude that may sound to parents with shorter leave.
I got the standard 12 weeks for both of my children. My son (1st baby) was more āchallengingā and I was super ready to go back to work.
My daughter is 10 months and I feel like I legit could have used 9 months of maternity leave. She is an easier baby but I breastfeed her and pumping at work has really taken a toll on me. Now that I can pump less my mental health is so much better.
I guess where I work, a hospital in the US, yes 12 weeks of FMLA. We get 6 weeks of paid maternity leave and then you can use PTO for 6 more weeks or take 6 weeks unpaid.
I am in Canada, so my job is protected for up to 18 months. This is an enormous privilege and the policies in the States hurt my heart.
However, the maximum total pay for 12 months is $34,000 CAD for the year. There is no additional pay if you take longer leave (it is just stretched thinner).
So, with COL being extremely high in most parts of Ontario/this wage not really being livable, I guess it depends how long you can hack it or if you have adequate savings.
Just as an example, a 1 bedroom apartment on the outskirts of my city would eat of 70% of this pre-tax income.
I didnāt have any paid leaveā¦ I went back to work part time after a week and within a month worked back up to full time and they didnāt dock my salary during that time. My husband was unemployed and we couldnāt afford for me to not work. The only upside is they allowed me to bring my baby with me so I brought her until she was about 6 months old and starting to really need more interaction and stimulus than I could provide while working.
With my first, 12 weeks unpaid, and I squeezed 2 more out of my employer (also unpaid). Husband got none and took vacation time here and there.
For the second (due in Oct.), I will get 12 weeks with partial pay (a new state act, employer still offers me nothing), and I am going to attempt to get a couple more weeks either using sick or PTO. I think my husband should get the same amount as me now as well due to the act.
14 weeks still wasnāt enough, but I did work from home with my baby so I suppose I still got to be with her but with an added stressor of working. š
I opted for c-section to get 2 additional weeks (got 8wks total), not paid. Just to keep my position. So depressing. Milk supply went low and couldnāt find formula. It was such a scary time. US fucking sucks!
18m all paid. At 12m it didnāt feel like enough, at 18m it felt like it still wasnāt enough but I was okay to go back to work.
My heart breaks for American parents.
I had 12 weeks off. It wasnāt enough. Between my anxiety over being away from her and rampant Covid I ended I leaving my job and became a SAHM.
I wish we had better maternity leave options as well
I took 10.5 months then returned to work PT (2.5 days) until my son was almost 13 months. This time around (due in Nov) I'm planning to just take 12 months off. I thought the transition period would ease me back in but if anything it just dragged out the return to work.
I took 13 months, on month 10 currently and itās starting to not feel like enough. I think no matter how much time I took Iād feel that way though.
I took 12 months with both kids - between kid 1 and 2 they introduced the 18 month option but I still chose 12 months. I started to get a little squirrely around the 10 month mark with both kids and I was ready to be back by 12 months for sure.
My employer had a "top up" for 6 months so I got my EI/government payment maximum, then my employer paid me the remainder of my salary for the first 6 months. Plus got to keep all my benefits and also accumulated vacation time while I was away, so I tacked on "vacation" to the end of my time off to get a paycheck a bit sooner.
18 months in Canada. Was it enough? I dunno, my kids were sick 75% of the time until they were 5 so it's not like having two parents working full time with young kids is ever a reality.
6 weeks. Not enough.
I was "privileged" enough to work from home with my son. But that was its own special hell. Being everything to everyone all the time is so fun.
I work Ina public school as a School Counselor.
With my 1st, I got 7 weeks unpaid.
With my 2nd, I got 6-8 weeks paid with the option to extend with a doctor's note. It would be paid as long as other Teachers/staff donated sick days to me to use. I extended to 13 weeks, which was the rest of the school year. The last 6 days are unpaid as I didn't qualify for more than 25 donated days because I'm not tenured yet.
It's complete bullshit. The time they give is not enough. With my 1st going back after 7 weeks was hell. She wasn't sleeping through the night yet, I wasn't fully healed from 3rd degree tears, and my hormones were not balanced yet. Everyone someone asked me how I was doing or how the baby was I cried. This went on for weeks.
My second I'm willing to lose those 6 days of pay to get 3 months plus the summer, giving me almost 6 months with him by the time I go back in the fall. I'll still be sad, but I'll have had a lot of time with him.
America needs to value their working mothers more.
Austria here.
8 weeks fully paid and mandatory maternity leave before due date and 12 weeks after birth because I had a c-section, it's 8 weeks for vaginal delivery. Mandatory because it's to protect mother and child. You are literally not allowed to work unless your self employed. If you work in a job that's potentially harmful and risky for pregnancy or have any pregnancy issues that could endanger mother and/or baby you get fully paid sick leave.
After the 8/12 week fully paid leave I took an additional 20 months partly paid parental leave. The amount of money you get depends on how long you take leave. During and up to 4 weeks after ending your parental leave your employer cannot fire you. Until your child is 8 years old you can demand to work part time.
German here. I have 24 months with around 33% pay and I am halfway through. I could add 12 more months unpaid or work part time after that. Most moms here take one year with 65% pay nowadays. My heart breaks for all the Mamas who do not even get one year despite wanting to stay at home longer. This should be the very very minimum. Everything else is cruel to me.
I had no paid time off so when we decided to try I got short term disability which covers a small portion of your salary for 6 weeks. I decided to take more unpaidā¦ then I couldnāt stand the thought of going back. My husband and I decided Iād do a year off then go back to workā¦ then covidā¦ then we moved for his job. My daughters now 5 and I homeschool her. Things changed a lot in 5 years!
I took one month, then worked part-time from home another month with a nanny watching my son at home.Ā Ā
Ā Then 3 months pp I went to work full time and my son started daycare.Ā
Ā That actually was perfect for me since I loved my job at the time.Ā
Ā Now I'm pregnant again and wish I could do longer this time but I'm starting a new job soon and any time I take will be unpaid likely.
I took 5 months this time- my job at the time offered 12 weeks paid parental leave + I got 8 weeks of short term disability paid at 80-100% I believe. I used a bit of PTO to stretch it a couple extra weeks (I donāt think technically I was supposed to do that but I had PTO on the books before the baby came and the parental benefit was allotted like PTO hours so I just used it around the PTO and nobody noticed/cared). With my first I believe I got just shy of 4 months, not long after she was born my company expanded their parental benefit. I know in both cases it was more than many Americans get (especially being mostly paid 100%) but it still didnāt feel like enough and this time I ended up deciding to leave and stay home a few months later.
I had 8 weeks at 70% pay. My state doesnāt offer anything at all. I could have taken another 4 weeks unpaid (FMLA runs concurrent to paid leave so only a total of 12 weeks). I could have used another week or two but it wasnāt the worst. My husband was a SAHD so we needed the income and it wasnāt like I had to put him in daycare, fortunately. My second I will get 12 weeks fully paid, but I lose 24hours of PTO to do so as two of those months I donāt count as an employee. I also will then get no option for FMLA for the next 12 months which is a bummer but I probably wouldnāt need it unless one of the kids gets really really sick anyway. My husband is working now (same company) and gets 4 weeks paid to use over the next 12 months, and my parents will be helping with childcare for the baby after I go back to work, thankfully, because even though weāre out of the pandemic, I still donāt like putting such tiny babies in daycare (when it can be avoided!!!) because they donāt get the one-on-one learning and development time and we canāt afford a nanny
9 weeks. 6 weeks from the state I worked in and 3 weeks of PTO I had saved up. It was not enough. I was fine physically but definitely needed more time to adjust to mom life before I added working full time back in.
Iām off for 16 months here in Canada. I canāt lie though, Iām kind of itching to get back to work now. Iāve been off for 13 months and Iād say this was long enough for me!
One year, with the option to go to 18 months (tho income is just stretched over the longer timeframe.) I was fortunate to be in a union role where I was topped up to 90% of my income. To me, it was too long, but I really like and feel fulfilled by my work. And we're in a VHCOL part of Canada, so wouldn't have been able to make 18mos work.
With my first 6. With my 2nd I will take the full 18 weeks I can (12 paid by work, 6 paid by state). I'm at 11 weeks post partum right now and do feel like I could go back to work but I'm really enjoying the time off.Ā
I had 18 weeks fully paid with my son, but my company changed the policy so Iām home for 26 weeks with my daughter (only on week 3!). Iām so fortunate for the time, but Iāll be honest, this is the perfect amount of time. My son thrives in daycare and is such a social kid I wouldnāt do justice having him at home. And having him as a role model/older brother, Iām guessing his sister will be the same (sheāll start daycare in Jan).
We get 4.5 months paid but Iām taking 6 months total! My husband gets 5 months. We are staggering it though with some overlap so my baby doesnāt have to go to daycare until like May 2025 (due date September)!
We get 9 months statuatory maternity in the U.K. which is not really enough to scratch by on... I took 10 months by using savings and it didn't feel like enough but I know I'm in a really privileged position that I was able to take the time I did!!
Iām a teacher so it depends if you plan it out well (which I did) then you can get more than the 12 weeks given by my state. So I had my baby in late February and took the 12 weeks given by the state and then I got summer so in total around 6 months.
However in my district you can also take a year leave but that is completely unpaid and you lose your seniority for a year. I think for my next baby I will try and do this. I am grateful to have six months but so much happens in that first year.
I got 16 weeks and have been struggling. In the US thatās a good amount of time for mat thatās paid, but Iām still crying everyday because I miss her.
I had 6 months and then it was winter break, didnāt go back until she was 7 months. It felt okay. The first couple of days were rough and pumping sucks but I only have to be in the office 3 days a week, wfh the other two so itās okay. 8 or 9 months is probably the best spot for me.
Iām in California and got about 6 months paid due PP issues and went back for a couple of weeks and then got another 3 for summer because I was a teacher. It didnāt feel like enough, even though I know Iām lucky as far the US goes.
22 weeks total but ~18.5 after giving birth (CA). Majority was fully paid by a combination of the state + company. I wish I could've taken a year, especially because we ended up breastfeeding for over 2.
Still with the same company but moved states and was told I now get nothing if I plan to have another kid because I'm in Indiana š
I am in California. I was offered 4 weeks before the due date and 3 months after.
I ended up taking 2 weeks before due date and Iāll take the full 3 months (Iām getting induced Saturday).
I feel lucky to be in California. But Whatās hard about these rules is letās say a baby is in NICU for a month, that eats into your leave.
With my first, 3 months felt like almost enough, but I wanted 1 more month.
American in the UK.
I took almost exactly a year. Standard mat leave pay here is I think 90% pay for 6 weeks, then statutory mat pay - which is peanuts (its like Ā£170/week which is roughly $225, not enough to live on at all) - for 33 weeks, then zero pay for the last 13 weeks. Basically it's job protection and most people save up during pregnancy to cover the income shortfall that happens during mat leave.
My company does a bit of "top up" as a benefit so in the end I got 100% pay for 8 weeks, then 50% for 8 weeks, then statutory pay for weeks 17-39, then zero for the rest.
It's wonderful to be able to take the time, but I'm always telling my American friends it's not some fantasy land where we get a year off fully paid.
I felt like a year was perfect. Baby was needing more stimulation by the 10-11 month mark, and I was getting restless and needing to go back to doing something for me during the day.
For my first I took 3mo and I was no where near ready, I was an absolute hot mess. My second Iāve taken 4.5mo (starts daycare tomorrow š„²) and itās much better than 3mo but still not enough. I think 6mo would be perfect for me, I love my job and care about my career progression and wouldnāt want to take 12mo.
Got one year with my first, planned to take 1.5 years with the second but went back a couple months early (partner got the remaining weeks). I was incredibly lucky that my employer topped up to 93% of my salary (on top of Canadaās mat/parental leave of 55%ish). Definitely enough time, I loved being home with my kids for the first year.
With my first, I actually felt ready to go back to work after 3 months. It was winter and I felt very isolated. With my second, I was not ready to go back after 3 months, but didnāt have a choice. It was just so much more hectic with 2 and he wasnāt a good sleeper, so I just could have used more time.
American, active duty military. I got 18 weeks off and I'm grateful for that but I think 6 months would be a better balance between Mom's needs and those of the workforce.
Look, I'm realistic and I know we'll all need to pay more taxes to subsidize longer paid leave. Americans don't want that. It only works in the military because we step up and bear the brunt of gapped billets and don't get paid more or overtime when we do more work. It was really hard on my coworkers who had to do my job while I was gone and then I came back and paid it back when someone else in our department got pregnant. But I do think 6 months would help with breastfeeding and mitigate the strain on childcare. Heck, I might have taken the last two months unpaid if I could but that's not an option. We don't get to keep extending our leave using disability like I've seen some of my civilian friends do.
We had our son at the beginning of 2020. I quit my job because of childcare costs and my husband was planning to take a week off, unpaid. The day we had him was the first day of lockdown and my husband couldnāt go to work for a year and a half. I canāt believe how lucky we got. I know it was a hard time for many, but it was a blessing for us. My husband got to be more involved than we ever anticipated. With the way everything is now, I donāt think heād even get a full week off if we had another baby. (We live in the US.)
I got 10 paid, 12 total, then didnāt go back to work. (My employer knew I wasnāt coming back but still paid me which was very nice of them). About to go back to a different job in August when she will be 20months, but itās a 6 month contract so I may or may not go back to SAHM life in Feb 2025.
I was working for a university in California when I had my second and got nearly five months off totalā¦ I received eight weeks paid maternity leave for my C-section (because I worked for a government entity my disability was a private firm and not state disability, hilarious how that works) and then I had three months paid bonding leave.
It was only enough because I could work from home and could work on my own schedule (the research and public outreach I was doing was almost exclusively online at that point still).
I got three months paid (a little more because it was during the holiday season). I was ready to go back to work, though with the contingency that I work from home so I got to keep caring for my kiddo. I kept him home and worked/cared for him for just shy of two years before he started daycare. I love my job and would be bored not working, but adore the flexibility of working from home in a flexible job.
5 months full time, then went back about 5-10 hours a week (but had 16 hours childcare over 3 days). Over time I have ramped up to 15-20 hours of work and 24 hours of childcare (3 full days), at 19 months.Ā
I plan to stay at this rate till my second is born and I go on full leave again, probably when she is about 3.
It has been perfect, I am really lucky to get to set it up exactly how I have wanted.Ā
Im self-employed in an artistic field and I did a few hours a day at 3 weeks and then full time (including traveling) at 8 weeks. I had a C-section and was feeling back to myself at 3 weeks. this was during Covid peak and my husbandās job wasnāt back yet, so when I traveled he came along and watched baby. Thatās what I wanted and I loved it. I completely agree that a year seems appropriate for most mothers.
I got 8 weeks recover for c-section and then 12 weeks family leave.
Iām in the middle of my leave nowā¦I donāt think it will be enough. I donāt wanna leave my baby. I need to work in some capacity though.
I got 18 weeks. 6 paid and then I used sick & vacation time for the rest of it. and then I only went back part-time so I was still a SAHM during the weekdays. I was honestly ready to gtfo of the house for a break from mom-ing.
I hope your baby is doing well now !
I took 4 months total, first 3 months at full pay last month at like 25%. Heās my 3rd and final baby so I knew what to expectā¦ with each kid it wasnāt so much that I wasnāt ready to go back to work as I didnāt want to close the door on such a special chapter with my kids. Itās the only opportunity Iāll have to be home with them like that and it was always really sad for it to be over. Was it enough for me to be ready to go back to work? Yes. Would I have wanted more time? 100% yes. Iām also grateful that I got as much time as I did because in the US I definitely had a longer leave than most.
Iām fortunate that I work from home 99% of the time and have a nanny at the house with my kids, if that wasnāt the case it would have been so much harder to transition back to work.
First child: 12 weeks paid (some was full pay some was 80% pay). It actually felt fine to me at the time, but part of that was I didnāt really go out and find community so I was just home alone with the baby a lot and that was hard for me.Ā
Second child: 16 weeks paid (some full pay some 80%). Going back wasnāt terrible, but I would have happily stayed home a little longer if I had more paid leave! I did a better job of finding a community and getting out of the house.Ā
As someone who gets enjoyment out of my career, I think in a perfect world for me, 6 months paid leave would be ideal.Ā
12 months with my first. It wasn't long enough so I ended up becoming a sahm. I went back to work part time after my second so I ended up taking the 12 months as going back part-time worked really well for me. 18 month parental leave was introduced here between my 1st & 2nd children and I would have taken the 18 month leave if I was working full time because that would be about perfect.
I worked in a school and we were offered zero maternity leave. I didnāt qualify for Paid Parental Leave or Disability because of working in a school. I had to use my own time and then the rest unpaid. I decided to just quit and be a stay at home mom.
I wish I couldāve taken long enough to sleep train! I took 3 months and my baby started going through his 4 month regression early. Literally the week before I went back to work his sleep got messed up. š«
US mom here, privileged to be working for a small family business- I took 8 months mostly unpaid but went in here and there to tidy things up/ perform my audits. I was back before my big external audit (quality systems) now I work 1 day/ week regularly and whenever I need to to complete my stuff. Underpaid for the project I complete but literally canāt beat the āI go when I wantā schedule so š¤·āāļø (worked my ass off over 15 years for them to get this sweet deal)
England here... I'm currently on mat leave, we get 90% of pay for 6 weeks, then its about Ā£180 a week until baby is 9 months old. You can then choose to take another 3 months unpaid so 12 months off in total. You also accrue holiday pay while you're on leave so a lot of companies encourage you to take one last month off as annual leave before you go back. Your job is also pretty much guaranteed to be safe. Mothers are extremely well protected by the law here.
I don't think that's good enough. If it were up to me we would have 100% pay for 3 months then 80% pay for another 9 months. I was paid better on furlough during covid.
I feel sorry for the USA mammas. Your country disgusts me in so many ways. Nobody should be expected to go back to work 6 weeks after having a baby.
Nurse practitioner in US. I had to work right up to the day before my due date. I had a c-section and got paid 60% for 6 weeks. It would have been 4 weeks if vaginal birth. I used vacation days to extend it to 3 months.
My husband works for a German based company and got 6 weeks 100% pay and the first month back only had to work 20 hours a week. My husband literally got better parental leave than me.
Iām on month 4/5 of maternity leave out of 12 and no, I can confidently say itās not enough, youāll need to drag me back to work - but I have to go back otherwise I owe my work 6 months worth of my salary
Six weeks. My current job doesnāt offer it, period. Either you have saved sick and vacation leave or you donāt. If you donāt or if you run out, you must apply for FMLA if youāve been there for over a year. If you havenāt, then just hope they hold your spot as you donāt get paid. As most public safety entities, this is not uncommon and needs to change.
4 weeks before and 6-8 weeks after and I work full time at a very prestigious university in California as a staff. It felt like literal torture going back to work I was so depressed. It did not get better until 8 months. Fuck whichever man decided on this amount of time.
12 weeks, unpaid. Well, two weeks were paid because I had PTO available and I was forced to use all of it up as part of my 12 weeks of maternity leave.
So now I'm back at work with no PTO available, and I'm not allowed to take a day off without PTO or I'll lose my health insurance. So if one of my kids has to stay home sick I'm screwed.
I love America š« š« š«
Due in Aug/Sept and in WA state, my employer qualifies for protected family leave for 12 weeks at 90% pay, my partner gets it too but he has a smaller employer so heās not job protected but weāre taking a gamble that theyāll keep him on like they say they will. Thereās potential for another 6 weeks for me if any complications arise as far as I understand. I donāt believe this will be enough for me so planning to request going to half-time for as long as theyāll allow it so we only need care for one or two days per week.
I feel like no amount of time is enough. I had a full year and it was not enough for me personally, though Iām super grateful that I was able to do so.Ā
I got a combined 5ish months because I used some sick leave, my parental leave, then a bunch of personal/vacation leave that I'd been saving for several years. I also timed my pregnancy for the second year of a two-year leave cycle so I had 2 weeks of personal leave (instead of just one) and rolled over some vacation that I would have lost if it had been between 2 year cycles. I also went back to work from home for 3 weeks in the middle for an annual project that extended my leave for an extra few weeks.
Honestly, I was ready by the time I went back. I'd actually started hiring a nanny for 4 hours per day a couple days a week to give me a break for the last month of my leave. I love my kiddo but I am NOT meant to be a SAHP.
I also went back to work full time just 3 weeks after having an emergency c-section to my micro-preemie while he was in the NICU so that I could save my time for when he came home. That's a decision that I will always struggle with just a little - it was good for my mental health I think to not be living in the NICU but I think it's pretty fucked up that I had to make that choice - be with him while he was in the hospital or be with him when he came home. I wish I could have had more options.
I had a year off, paid. It wasnāt enough. After the year ended I decided to be a stay-at-home mom because I just couldnāt fathom leaving my baby. We struggled financially but made it work. The priority was now to raise my child at home so we made a lot of sacrifices and figured it out.
I have a question, are the people saying they have unpaid leave also not getting short term disability (60% pay)? Iām asking because to me I consider that somewhat paid, I have a friend who considers it unpaid even though sheās going to get the 60% pay.
16 months. 4 months of that was actually unemployment because I took voluntary redundancy from my previous place while I was on mat leave. It wasnāt enough and it was also too much. I miss my son like mad now Iām working again but also I felt like my brain had turned to absolute mush. Not cut out to be a SAHM at all.
I got 4 months. 6 weeks of disability and then 12 weeks of bonding. Iām in New York State and both were mostly paid by the state and I took some sick/vacation so I got the full pay. No it wasnāt enough
I took 10 months off, which we afforded due to having dirt cheap rent in our studio apartment at the time. I think if I could go back and redo things, I would have gone back to work earlier and moved to our larger space much sooner. Even with our space saving solutions, it was so hard to live in that space with a baby. I barely slept that whole first year due to being kept alert by every stir of my son sleeping so close by.
Of course the time with baby was also valuable especially the first 4 months or so, but I was lonely, exhausted and bored, and not as good of an activity planner as I thought Iād be. Once my son started at his nice in-home daycare life got easier. I could engage with adults and challenge my brain again at work, and baby got valuable socialization skills as well as much more enriching structured activities. I used to be soo jealous of people who could afford full-time stay at home parenting, but it is not for everyone.
I took a year off when my daughter was born. We were really lucky we could afford it as I didnāt receive any paid leave at all. It makes me really sad to know that if we have a second, I will only be able to take a few months off š¢
9 months with my first and 10 with my second. And with my first i also had to take two months unpaid leave afted dads leave, before kindergarden. And dad had 6 months with the first, and 3 months with the second
TLDR: 16 weeks. Not enough at all! You are not alone in your feelings. I switched to 2 days a week when I went back.
āā
I work as an attorney at a District Attorneyās Office in the US (criminal prosecution).
12 weeks FMLA
(unpaid, but you can get paid by using any sick and vacation time you had banked)
+
4 weeks paid maternity leave
(you have to return to work after to get those 4 weeks paid by the city)
= 16 total
It was not enough time at all. I delivered baby 1 in 2019. I lasted 1 day after coming back to work. On day 2, I was crying in my bossās office. I switched to working 2 days a week, and have been doing that ever since (except March-July 2020 when I was home because my courtroom was closed)! I also had baby 2 in 2022.
For me, there would never be enough time off. Our plan was for me to be a SAHM, but my husband and I (with some very caring and supportive input from my mother and sis-in-law) decided that going to work for 2 days a week would be good for my mental health (hx of depression, anxiety). Basically that I would have a place to go 2 days a week where I had to arrive to court on time and have taken a shower or I would get āin trouble.ā My MIL watched the baby on Wed and my mom on Fri until they were 1, and then they started the preschool. The kids enjoy their preschool, but I still feel guilty that they are not home 100% with me.
I took 4 months because I had saved my vacation up to add to it. I ended up never going back to work full time, ended up taking a per diem hospital job working nights (Iām an RN) and then went part-time to get benefits when we planned to conceive our second. I am very lucky to be able to work off shifts when my husband is home from work so Iām essentially a stay at home working mom lol. It works for us though.
10 weeks. I think I wouldāve liked about 4-6 months total.
*ETA Iām a teacher and I had baby on August 1, so I got 8 weeks off before delivery. That was really nice. But I just lucked into that with timing.
I got 6 weeks unpaid (thank you state of Texas HHS). That ended up being 1 week prior to birth for bed rest and then 5 weeks postpartum. My boss called me on Christmas Eve to see if I could come in Christmas Day. I still had another week of planned leave, so I politely declined. Gotta love being a nurse in the United States!
I got 6 months off. 4.5 was fully paid, 1.5 unpaid. Iām in the U.S., but work for a big company that touts this as a big employee benefit for hiring and retention. It felt like the perfect amount. I was out of the newborn haze, baby was sleeping better at night and I was ready for the mental stimulation of work. And I needed my paycheck and employer match for healthcare back - I was *not* expecting the huge healthcare bill I got during the unpaid portion of my leave.
UK here and I have a good company policy.
I had a month off before (accrued leave) that became 3 weeks as baby came early. Then I had 12 months maternity leave (6 months full pay, 3 months statutory pay and 3 months unpaid). Then 3 further weeks off at full pay for leave accrued whilst off.
So total time off was almost 13.5 months. The 6 months full pay helped me budget for the 6 months I was paid very little or not at all. I was lucky that we got a cost of living bonus and normal bonus in those low pay months so I only had 2 months where I got a circa Ā£100 pay packet.
I didnāt feel ready to leave him then (with my very capable mum) and found going back to work (part-time) a struggle. I only find it comfortable now as heās 2.5yo and an utter whirlwind!
šŗšøhere. I took 16 weeks full pay and my husband is taking 18 weeks full pay now. I donāt think this is enough, I wish I myself had a full year before returning. I lost my supply coming back to work and now Iām so stressed out as we will have to send him to daycare at 8 months old. I just canāt deal with it and am struggling emotionally.
All of my leave was unpaid. I had an emergency c-section, then went back to the hospital for PP preeclampsia, almost died from that, then contracted a blood infection from the hospital and didn't get to be actually home with my baby until almost 4 weeks PP. My doctor said I absolutely could not go back to work at my originally planned 6 weeks...but I had to in order to pay bills. So yeah, I got 2 weeks to cuddle my baby without IVs and heart monitor stickers all over me before going back. I'm still a bit traumatized almost 6 years later. I have a friend who had her baby on a Wednesday and was back at work that following Monday. Gotta love that (non-existent) US maternity leave.
I work for a small, private company in the US. I get 12 weeks paid, with the option of an additional 12 weeks unpaid upon manager approval.
This is my second maternity leave with this company in the 3 1/2 years that Iāve been there. Iām very senior in the company and revenue generating so it would be hard, in good conscience, to take the entire 6 months (mostly because I need to know Iāll have a paycheck with I return lol)
Since I WFH it makes it easier. I was able to work and have my first baby home with me for 2 years. Albeit very, very difficult. Donāt know how I couldāve put him in care at 3 months
Do United States is the absolute worst. I live in Canada and when I had my maternity leave it was 12 months. My company did not top me up but I got 55% of my pay. Now you can do 12 months at that or 18 months but I believe the last six months is a bit less pay. I took my 12 months with my son and I did not feel that it was enough. Iām grateful that I got those 12 months but to be honest I think itās absolutely horrific to not have one year be a minimum in every country in the world! At three months your baby is literally still just coming out of the newborn bubble and hasnāt even gotten to the age where theyāre able to learn sleep patterns and routines and nap routines and they need you for all of that. Not to mention that when my kids were six months old and I had a well-established naptime and bedtime they went to bed at 6:30 PM or seven for the following two years so if I had gone back to work I wouldāve seen them for a very rushed stressful one hour in the morning and I wouldāve been home in time to see them maybe for an hour if I wanted them to go to bed on time on a proper routine for a baby that age and have a good night sleep etc. When my husband and I sat down after my Matley was almost over and really looked at the logistics of day-to-day life and what that would mean for our child and what that would mean for us as a family it just seemed all bad. And trust me we had zero money at the time we were $70,000 in debt and my husband had just started a career in real estate with no business experience which was all commission based it was terrifying but I wouldnāt of done it any other way. We made a lot of financial sacrifice in order to make that happen and it was well worth it. Even here in Canada when we go back to work after a year the rates of women suffering from depression anxiety distress on Amerige women overworking themselves burning the candle at both ends consistently every day having mental breakdowns and children especially babies and toddlers spending most of the years where they could be building trust and confidence in family life and bonding with you and also having the parent there for all of the toddler years the teaching moments that disciplinary moments what to say and how to say it and what exactly to do based on their development thatās almost solely being done by a nanny or someone at a daycare. To me I think every woman should have the option if she wants to work but she should also have the option to be home. I live in Canada and I am envious of what they have over in Europe in some countries where itās very much family oriented and all of society companies and workplaces seem very much focussed on keeping their employees happy and in order to do that family life needs to be happy. Itās a real missing link it seems
I got 8 weeks paid at 40% of my salary and 4 weeks of unpaid for bonding that I wonāt be able to take because we canāt afford it. It is no where near enough. I have 2.5 weeks left being home with him and Iām absolutely dreading going back to work and leaving him.
I took 7 months. Eight weeks was fully paid by my employer, the rest was paid by Canadian employment insurance at $590/week.
My husband is now on 6 months of parental leave he gets 8 weeks fully paid by our employer (we work for the same company) then heāll transition to employment insurance.
Seven months was nice, it was enough to adjust to parenthood, but easy to transition back to work. Iām also loving my husband taking a good chunk of leave. Itās preventing me from falling into the default parent trap, which as someone who is career focused is awesome.
In BC Canada, you can have up to 69 weeks of parental benefits which can be split between the two parents as long as no one takes more than 61 weeks
Thereās also 15 weeks of maternity leave on top of that available to the birth giving parent
Current benefits are (government provided)
Maternity leave 55% of regular income. Max of $668/week (15 week max)
Standard parental leave 55% of regular income. Max of $668/week (40 weeks max, can be shared with 35 week max per parent)
Extended parental leave 33% of regular income. Max of $401/week (69 weeks max, can be shared but 61 week max per parent)
I work IT for a big hospital in the city. We donāt have maternity leave. I have 8 weeks of short term disability. If I wouldnāt have had a C-section, I only would have gotten 6 weeks.
I live in Quebec , Canada and took 18 months: 6 months paid at 75% of my salary, 6 months at 55% and the las 6 months is on me. But I am lucky to have a husband who has a good income.
I had 12 months and at the time it didnāt feel like enough but was ok in the end. At 3 months I was lucky to go walk my dog without baby attached, I canāt imagine going back to work so soon!
Like others in Europe, I took 13 months. 6 months of this was full pay and some of the rest of the time had some government support. I am also using unpaid parental leave to reduce my working days to 4 a week.
ETA we must take our maternity leave at least 2 weeks before the due date in my country.
Iām in California which a lot of people donāt realize actually has pretty good maternity leave. I got 4 weeks pre birth (ended up being 2 bc LO came 2 weeks early) and then a week shy of 6 months after the birth. This was all through the state program and nothing through my employer.
I realize how lucky I am to have gotten 6 mo in the US and Iām SO thankful I got that time with my baby. That said I think a year would be perfect. I was finally coming out of the newborn fog at like 4-5 mo pp and had a few weeks to really do fun things with LO and then it was bam back to work. Just seeing that glimmer of what a long maternity leave could look like with an older baby makes me think a year would be incredible.
5.5 months with first baby. It was sort of enough (but also, a pandemic happened so then we werenāt sending her to childcare and we were trying to work with no childcare in a 1 bedroom apartment and that was wild and hard).
Second kid is almost 8 months, and I feel ready to go back to work part time. For a variety of family reasons, I will be a SAHM to both kids til he is about 10 months, and then will look for work (full time likely, though I would prefer part time. But itās hard to find in my field). I recently started having a nanny come a few hours a week, though.
Worth noting, the second leave was totally unpaid as I ran a consulting business before my leave, and will be looking for a job after. So, I could take as long as I āwantedā, but only as long as our savings last
5 months w first. Second was WFH during covid and stayed home for 11 months til we had to put him in daycare which was a bit of a blessing for my situation. Looking back Iām grateful for that opportunity to be w him so long
Cries in šŗšø
Lmao. This is the comment šš
Yep, glad to feel seen/heard and not alone. I went back to my law firm after 4 weeks, following a c section delivery, and to be clear: it was an *UNpaid 4 weeks away. No job protection, as firm was too small to fall under family medical leave act (FMLA). But that law school debt repayment plan sure AF didnāt stop, so I had to scoot back.
You're kidding? That's insane. 4 weeks after my C-section I still had trouble getting in and out of the shower. The troops want the bravery and resilience that you have.
It was more like āanxiety-fueled delusion.ā I regret it now, but was so desperate to maintain my career and the job market in my area was tight. I left actual law practice when my second was born. I went back after 4 wks with him, but then was like āI gotta get outta here!!ā and I interviewed for (and eventually got) a corporate job with amazing maternity benefits (which I never got to use, bc I was done having kids!) lol. I was 6 wks post c section with a belly band on over my wife-open pants and still healing surgical site. Ugh. When I told them (once hired) they were like āOMG!ā and I started at that company then when my son was 12 weeks. Wish Iād had 12 weeks off with each kid. Oh well! š¤·āāļø Iām seriously SO happy for women with great leave options.
Right? I was back part-time at 2.5 weeks and full-time at 2.5mo....
Omg im so sorry. My husband only had 2 weeks off I was able to get 12 weeks due to short term disability insurance. The US sucks in so many ways
Yep my husband could only get 2 weeks at partial pay. I was self-employed so I didn't make any money when I wasn't working. Thankfully my clients were awesome and I could take the baby with me (one mom of a client would actually care for my son while I worked with hers) when my mom wasn't free or he was cluster feeding. Lots of multitasking.
Iām sorry you had to do that! Thatās great you were able to keep your baby with you. I had to stop breastfeeding at 14 weeks since my supply wouldnāt keep up while pumping at work, I needed him to latch, I felt like such a failure when I had to switch to formula.
His first meal was formula because he wouldn't latch and I was worn out from labor. We did a combo formula and breastfeeding (his latch was never the greatest and COVID cancelled my lactation appointments) until 9mo (too many teethš¤), then just formula until he could start regular milk. I'm so sorry you felt that way and couldn't continue the path you wanted to. But you should never feel ashamed, the important part is that your baby is fed and happy and healthy, however you make that happen!
Thank you! I felt breastfeeding was so pushed on my at the hospital it took a few months to figure out I was holding myself to too high standards. My almost 2 year old is healthy and happy as can be.
I was back part time at 2 weeks and full time at 3 months as well. Iām just glad my boss lets me work from home for 6 months before Iām back in office. I work for amazing people who treat me like a human though. Baby will start daycare probably around 10 months old
Same
Nice username š
Me too. I took 3 months off but was hit hard with post partum depression the day I had to leave my daughter at daycare to go back to work. I cried every day for the three months I was working till we moved and I was home with her for a bit till I found a new job at the new location. We in the US are definitely cheated when it comes to maternity leave.
Colorado just passed FAMLI paid leave so I got 8 weeks fully paid by my company, followed by 12 weeks capped at $1000 a week paid by the state of Colorado. I had a C section and my baby had to go on oxygen at home twice. When I went back to work he'd only been off home oxygen for a few weeks. I am so thankful to live in this state and eternally grateful to have been able to move out of the hellscape that Texas has become for women 10 years ago (grew up there).
Netherlands here. 6 fully paid weeks before due date, another 6 fully paid after and another 9 weeks paid 70% It was nowhere near enough. I feel 1 year minimum should be where it's at.
The 6 weeks before too is so needed. I was driving in traffic when 9 months pregnant and it took me over an hour to get home. I wanted to pee so bad, I had BH contractions and just miserable driving like that. I cried when i got home. It would have been so helpful to stop or even go part time or remote the last few weeks.
I was working while in early labor. The US is such a great country /s
I worked up until my first was born (two weeks early). I didnāt know I was in early labor my whole work day as a special ed teacher, but I was so uncomfortable the whole day. I figured it out once my water broke that night. With my second, I went on leave two weeks before my due date. She ended up coming a week early. That week off of work was amazing though.
Dang, having 6 weeks before your due date is sooo awesome!
You can choose 4, youāll get 8 after. I did that and she came one week early so I only had 3 weeks before and that as pretty short. But to make up I took 4 months after instead of 3. My company gives an addition to a 100% on top of the 70% by the government. My husband took 8 weeks (70%) pay. This new law is so much better!!
Dang you guys all have it made haha. Neither my husband and or myself has any sort of benefit like that. Iām just glad I have 60% pay through short term disability. I wish I had something more š„²
I know.. I read so many stories like yours.. my heart goes out to you
Would it have been possible to take additional unpaid time with your job staying secure? I think I can pad my time put to 5 months, but minimally 1 month would be fully unpaid. Thankfully, my position will be protected if I can make that work financially after the 4ish months of reduced pay.
Yes, there is still unpaid leave but that isn't worth it to me. I work to make money and working less means I would'nt be able to pull of the function Im currently occupying so I would need to find something else to do, and also less money. Using unpaid leave to just not work for another bunch of months without pay feels iffy to me. I would rather then just quit my job, but that's a personal preference as alot of people do use their unpaid leave to secure having a job after they're done with it.
I actually am surprised itās not better in the netherlands. I assumed it would be at least 6 months after birth.
As would I my friend, as would I. I think we have it as one of the worst in Europe on this front. Ofcourse nowhere near as bad as America or some other countries have it ofcourse, but still. I truly believe a year minimum should be the standard, especially after a second or third child.
I took 16 months of a possible 3 years (14 months paid partial wage). It felt rushed going back. Next baby Iām taking a full two years.
Wow! I am so amazed at countries that offer this much time off, this is outstanding? Where do you live?
I live in Germany. Pregnant peopleās jobs are secured for 3 yearsā¦.plus you can use those 3 years anytime before the child is 8. (Itās not all paid though ā¦ 12-14 months is paid at a sliding scale). Also the other parent can have 3 years unpaid if they want it. And you get it for each child thereafter as well.
WOW!
Where do you live?
Germany
I have 18 months. On month 4.Ā Itās horrific to get less, frankly. Iām so sorry to anyone in the US
Horrific is the correct word. I can't help but think that many societal issues in the US could stem back to babies being ripped away from their mother's so young! How traumatic for everyone. I also live in Canada and didn't get as much top up as you! You must have a great employer.
I do!
This seems like the right abound of time to me. On month 12 and itās finally getting better but it was physically and mentally torture going back after 12 weeks. Not right. I have a āgoodā job too! Good job Canada . Enjoy your time with bb congratulations š«¶š»
Yeah I think it should be universal!!
Do you get your full pay for 18 months?
93% for the first year. The next six months are 43%
Is this because of your company top up? This is not normal for everyone. Usually itās up to 55% of your salary and there is a cap. The companies can top up.
YepĀ
What country are you in? If UK, would you be willing to share info privately? I am teyingbto collate data to improve the mat and pat leave in my company.
canada
If it helps I worked for the Civil Service while on Mat leave in the UK. I got 6 months at full pay, 3 months of statutory pay and 3 months unpaid.
Wow! 18 monthsā¦yes the US clearly sucks for leave. Do you mind if I ask what county you are in?
CanadaĀ
I'm also in Canada and got a good top up from my employer, but OPs is amazing. I think they may be with the federal government because I think they to used to do 90+% for 12 months, and with the recent addition of the 18 months option they must have added an additional small top up. Here you can take 12 months at 55% pay or 18months at around 33% (it works out to same dollar amount as the 55% for 12 months). Pretty much all employees qualify for this (not if you are self employed though). Many white collar jobs provide additional top ups. I hear frequently of 3-6 months at close to 100% and then nothing for the remainder. I have a municipal job and got 75% for the first 12 months. It didn't even really feel like much of a pay decrease because I wasn't paying into the pension for that period. It's important to note that the 12/18months is available for either parent (aside from the first 15 weeks (or maybe 17?) that go specifically to the birth parent). Also, there are bonus weeks available only if both parents take some time off.
Just to clarify slightly, itās not 55% of pay, but 55% of insurable earnings. So the maximum total pay for 12 months is just over $34,000 CAD for the year, even if your salary was higher.
This is my issue. Hello fellow Canadians. I have a 7 figure income. I took 18 months, topped up to 75% for the first 6. With the cap in place I'm making approximately 30% of my income after deductions. Because my income is on the higher end, I get next to nothing from child benefit credit. Because of the cap on EI and the child benefit calculation based on last year's taxes, I have $50 left over every 2 weeks after paying my bills. That's not including gas and groceries. Luckily my partner can support us and this is a very minor problem compared to the criminal maternity leave they get in the states, but it still annoys me.
I hear you. 70% of the pre-tax maximum would be eaten up by the cost of a 1 bedroom apartment on the outskirts of my city. And with the cost of groceries, itās simply not doable without debt or a second supporting income. I looked into returning to work early for this reason, but literally cannot find anyone willing to watch a baby under 12 months old. I signed up for 15 waitlists right when I got pregnant and am being told Iāll be lucky to get in before he needs to go to kindergarten. On the hunt for at home care now, but again, they donāt really accept young babies because of the legal ratios.
I got 9 weeks. I was a teacher at the time, and I got 8 because I ended up having an emergency c-section, but that ran into our spring break so I got 9. It was nowhere near enough time. I barely even felt physically healed enough to be back at work, much less leaving my baby.
6 weeks we as teachers donāt get paid maternity leave. The second day I was back I lost my job for next school year. After a lot of stress I have one lined up for next year. Point being I wish I would have taken more time and not cared about them or what they needed from me.
Teachers don't get maternity leave?? My call center job offers it. That is seriously so gross and unfair, I'm so sorry :(
We get three days of maternity leave in my district (teacher in the US) but many states offer 12 weeks of leave. The three days of leave is honestly a slap in the face. Who would be ready to return after three days?
Three days, might as well offer none. That's enough to be able to stand and walk a little funny, assuming no C-section
Omg what !??? 3 days cannot be fr. I am honestly in completel shock.
In the UK it's illegal to have less than 2 weeks. Unless you have a C-section or a factory job, then it's even longer.
Nope!!! And my district wouldnāt pay into Paid Parental Leave. I had to use my own time. And I had just started the year prior so I only had a week of PTO.
Same: teacher at a CATHOLIC school and I got 6 weeks unpaid. Luckily my school (and principal) were very accommodating, but it created a financial strain. I was ready to go back, because I felt really isolated during my maternity leave, but that was an easier school than where Iām at now.
Teacher in the US here. I got 12 weeks but thankfully it ran into my summer break so I was home with my little one for 5 months total. It is unpaid though :(
We get 12-18 months paid at 55% of your income (for 12 months, and if you take the 18 months it's the same amount of money stretched out over 18 months). Canada. I don't think only 12 months is enough. Most daycares don't even take babies that are only 3 months old, that's tragic that Americans have to leave their babies so small. Idk how they breastfeed!
It's not 55% of your income. It's 55% of your insurable earnings, which is $63, 200 as of January 1, 2024. That means a maximum of $668 a week.
Correct. I forget sometimes that some people make a lot of money! š¤
Yep. It worked out to only about 40% of my income. I'm glad we can take it, but unless your employer tops of up, it's often times not enough.Ā
Yah itās not really possible for many to take the 18 months due to the massive income cut.
Yup. itās one of the reasons I decided to go back at 7 months. EI was a roughly 75% decrease in my salary. After my company top up ran out, it was a huge hit to our savings. My husband makes less than I do; so heās on parental leave for 6 months. Much less impact to our budget with him on leave.
Ya I took 9 months with my first, husband took the last 3, so 12 months total, Canada. Second child, my husband and I overlapped for 4 months and then I took the rest of the year, partly unpaid because I took the 12 month pay.
I'm in America and breastfed, it was tough because I had to get my baby used to pumped milk in a bottle before maternity leave ended (3 mos) but once he got used to that, it was fine, I pumped they fed him pumped milk bottles. But trust me, I would have rather been home with my baby than working. I hated going back, it's always so depressing for me to go through that. Moms deserve more time than just 3 mos, and I know other American moms didn't really have a leave at all and that's so heartbreaking.
Yeah i dont have any paid leave at all. I am taking 6 weeks unpaid medical leave and I am funding it with the money I got after my dad died (it isnt much cause I wish I could just stay home for the year, im thabkful i have that option though i would'vepreferred my dad). It sucks immensely Im on week for and I want to cry thinking in 2 weeks i have to leave my precious baby girl and get ready to pump only š
I'm so sorry. It's such an injustice that mothers are so often put into positions like this š. There needs to be more value placed on mother-baby bonding time... and it's so wrong that like in your case, they'll hand out a slap in the face 6 week short leave time and have it be unpaid, on top of it.
We get 14 months of paid parental leave over here (European country). I took 12. There are additional modes for working parents that ensure you still get that leave wage on top of your regular wage if you return to work earlier. So that's what I did, too. I actually enjoyed returning to work but sometimes I still think it was too early, however rude that may sound to parents with shorter leave.
I got the standard 12 weeks for both of my children. My son (1st baby) was more āchallengingā and I was super ready to go back to work. My daughter is 10 months and I feel like I legit could have used 9 months of maternity leave. She is an easier baby but I breastfeed her and pumping at work has really taken a toll on me. Now that I can pump less my mental health is so much better.
I was the same! I was ready to go back after the first, but could have used way more time after the second!
Did you use FMLA for the 12? Is that what you mean by standard?
I guess where I work, a hospital in the US, yes 12 weeks of FMLA. We get 6 weeks of paid maternity leave and then you can use PTO for 6 more weeks or take 6 weeks unpaid.
Oh oh, by standard 12 weeks I thought you meant the standard for US!
I am in Canada, so my job is protected for up to 18 months. This is an enormous privilege and the policies in the States hurt my heart. However, the maximum total pay for 12 months is $34,000 CAD for the year. There is no additional pay if you take longer leave (it is just stretched thinner). So, with COL being extremely high in most parts of Ontario/this wage not really being livable, I guess it depends how long you can hack it or if you have adequate savings. Just as an example, a 1 bedroom apartment on the outskirts of my city would eat of 70% of this pre-tax income.
12 weeks and not even close to enough. My babyās 9 months old and I still miss her everyday when Iām at work. I wish Iād have had more time.
I didnāt have any paid leaveā¦ I went back to work part time after a week and within a month worked back up to full time and they didnāt dock my salary during that time. My husband was unemployed and we couldnāt afford for me to not work. The only upside is they allowed me to bring my baby with me so I brought her until she was about 6 months old and starting to really need more interaction and stimulus than I could provide while working.
I'm so sorry :( that's terrible
12 months (Canada) and I felt like it was enough. By 1 they are ready to be socialized at daycare. I think the US system is absolutely barbaric.
With my first, 12 weeks unpaid, and I squeezed 2 more out of my employer (also unpaid). Husband got none and took vacation time here and there. For the second (due in Oct.), I will get 12 weeks with partial pay (a new state act, employer still offers me nothing), and I am going to attempt to get a couple more weeks either using sick or PTO. I think my husband should get the same amount as me now as well due to the act. 14 weeks still wasnāt enough, but I did work from home with my baby so I suppose I still got to be with her but with an added stressor of working. š
6 months (the max allowed by my union) but only like 6 weeks of that was paid in full. I would have loved a year! PAID lol.
I opted for c-section to get 2 additional weeks (got 8wks total), not paid. Just to keep my position. So depressing. Milk supply went low and couldnāt find formula. It was such a scary time. US fucking sucks!
18m all paid. At 12m it didnāt feel like enough, at 18m it felt like it still wasnāt enough but I was okay to go back to work. My heart breaks for American parents.
I had 12 weeks off. It wasnāt enough. Between my anxiety over being away from her and rampant Covid I ended I leaving my job and became a SAHM. I wish we had better maternity leave options as well
I took 10.5 months then returned to work PT (2.5 days) until my son was almost 13 months. This time around (due in Nov) I'm planning to just take 12 months off. I thought the transition period would ease me back in but if anything it just dragged out the return to work.
I took 13 months, on month 10 currently and itās starting to not feel like enough. I think no matter how much time I took Iād feel that way though.
I took 12 months with both kids - between kid 1 and 2 they introduced the 18 month option but I still chose 12 months. I started to get a little squirrely around the 10 month mark with both kids and I was ready to be back by 12 months for sure. My employer had a "top up" for 6 months so I got my EI/government payment maximum, then my employer paid me the remainder of my salary for the first 6 months. Plus got to keep all my benefits and also accumulated vacation time while I was away, so I tacked on "vacation" to the end of my time off to get a paycheck a bit sooner.
12 weeks. 65% of my pay for 6 weeks, no pay for 6. I hate it here.
18 months in Canada. Was it enough? I dunno, my kids were sick 75% of the time until they were 5 so it's not like having two parents working full time with young kids is ever a reality.
I'm in Canada and I'm planning to take 18-months for mat leave
22 months here parental leave
6 weeks. Not enough. I was "privileged" enough to work from home with my son. But that was its own special hell. Being everything to everyone all the time is so fun.
I live in California so I got 6mo. It wasnāt enough and I didnāt go back. I got pregnant again in that time anyway š
I work Ina public school as a School Counselor. With my 1st, I got 7 weeks unpaid. With my 2nd, I got 6-8 weeks paid with the option to extend with a doctor's note. It would be paid as long as other Teachers/staff donated sick days to me to use. I extended to 13 weeks, which was the rest of the school year. The last 6 days are unpaid as I didn't qualify for more than 25 donated days because I'm not tenured yet. It's complete bullshit. The time they give is not enough. With my 1st going back after 7 weeks was hell. She wasn't sleeping through the night yet, I wasn't fully healed from 3rd degree tears, and my hormones were not balanced yet. Everyone someone asked me how I was doing or how the baby was I cried. This went on for weeks. My second I'm willing to lose those 6 days of pay to get 3 months plus the summer, giving me almost 6 months with him by the time I go back in the fall. I'll still be sad, but I'll have had a lot of time with him. America needs to value their working mothers more.
Austria here. 8 weeks fully paid and mandatory maternity leave before due date and 12 weeks after birth because I had a c-section, it's 8 weeks for vaginal delivery. Mandatory because it's to protect mother and child. You are literally not allowed to work unless your self employed. If you work in a job that's potentially harmful and risky for pregnancy or have any pregnancy issues that could endanger mother and/or baby you get fully paid sick leave. After the 8/12 week fully paid leave I took an additional 20 months partly paid parental leave. The amount of money you get depends on how long you take leave. During and up to 4 weeks after ending your parental leave your employer cannot fire you. Until your child is 8 years old you can demand to work part time.
German here. I have 24 months with around 33% pay and I am halfway through. I could add 12 more months unpaid or work part time after that. Most moms here take one year with 65% pay nowadays. My heart breaks for all the Mamas who do not even get one year despite wanting to stay at home longer. This should be the very very minimum. Everything else is cruel to me.
I had no paid time off so when we decided to try I got short term disability which covers a small portion of your salary for 6 weeks. I decided to take more unpaidā¦ then I couldnāt stand the thought of going back. My husband and I decided Iād do a year off then go back to workā¦ then covidā¦ then we moved for his job. My daughters now 5 and I homeschool her. Things changed a lot in 5 years!
I had 13 weeks with full pay, I also work from home so itās not as bad but still sucks! Iām so jealous of those in Canada lol
I took one month, then worked part-time from home another month with a nanny watching my son at home.Ā Ā Ā Then 3 months pp I went to work full time and my son started daycare.Ā Ā That actually was perfect for me since I loved my job at the time.Ā Ā Now I'm pregnant again and wish I could do longer this time but I'm starting a new job soon and any time I take will be unpaid likely.
I took 5 months this time- my job at the time offered 12 weeks paid parental leave + I got 8 weeks of short term disability paid at 80-100% I believe. I used a bit of PTO to stretch it a couple extra weeks (I donāt think technically I was supposed to do that but I had PTO on the books before the baby came and the parental benefit was allotted like PTO hours so I just used it around the PTO and nobody noticed/cared). With my first I believe I got just shy of 4 months, not long after she was born my company expanded their parental benefit. I know in both cases it was more than many Americans get (especially being mostly paid 100%) but it still didnāt feel like enough and this time I ended up deciding to leave and stay home a few months later.
2/14 - 7/9 is my schedule maternity leave. Iām so so upset about it because it isnāt enough.
I had 8 weeks at 70% pay. My state doesnāt offer anything at all. I could have taken another 4 weeks unpaid (FMLA runs concurrent to paid leave so only a total of 12 weeks). I could have used another week or two but it wasnāt the worst. My husband was a SAHD so we needed the income and it wasnāt like I had to put him in daycare, fortunately. My second I will get 12 weeks fully paid, but I lose 24hours of PTO to do so as two of those months I donāt count as an employee. I also will then get no option for FMLA for the next 12 months which is a bummer but I probably wouldnāt need it unless one of the kids gets really really sick anyway. My husband is working now (same company) and gets 4 weeks paid to use over the next 12 months, and my parents will be helping with childcare for the baby after I go back to work, thankfully, because even though weāre out of the pandemic, I still donāt like putting such tiny babies in daycare (when it can be avoided!!!) because they donāt get the one-on-one learning and development time and we canāt afford a nanny
9 weeks. 6 weeks from the state I worked in and 3 weeks of PTO I had saved up. It was not enough. I was fine physically but definitely needed more time to adjust to mom life before I added working full time back in.
Iām off for 16 months here in Canada. I canāt lie though, Iām kind of itching to get back to work now. Iāve been off for 13 months and Iād say this was long enough for me!
One year, with the option to go to 18 months (tho income is just stretched over the longer timeframe.) I was fortunate to be in a union role where I was topped up to 90% of my income. To me, it was too long, but I really like and feel fulfilled by my work. And we're in a VHCOL part of Canada, so wouldn't have been able to make 18mos work.
With my first 6. With my 2nd I will take the full 18 weeks I can (12 paid by work, 6 paid by state). I'm at 11 weeks post partum right now and do feel like I could go back to work but I'm really enjoying the time off.Ā
I had 18 weeks fully paid with my son, but my company changed the policy so Iām home for 26 weeks with my daughter (only on week 3!). Iām so fortunate for the time, but Iāll be honest, this is the perfect amount of time. My son thrives in daycare and is such a social kid I wouldnāt do justice having him at home. And having him as a role model/older brother, Iām guessing his sister will be the same (sheāll start daycare in Jan).
We get 4.5 months paid but Iām taking 6 months total! My husband gets 5 months. We are staggering it though with some overlap so my baby doesnāt have to go to daycare until like May 2025 (due date September)!
We get 9 months statuatory maternity in the U.K. which is not really enough to scratch by on... I took 10 months by using savings and it didn't feel like enough but I know I'm in a really privileged position that I was able to take the time I did!!
Iām a teacher so it depends if you plan it out well (which I did) then you can get more than the 12 weeks given by my state. So I had my baby in late February and took the 12 weeks given by the state and then I got summer so in total around 6 months. However in my district you can also take a year leave but that is completely unpaid and you lose your seniority for a year. I think for my next baby I will try and do this. I am grateful to have six months but so much happens in that first year.
I got 6 and a half months.
I got 16 weeks and have been struggling. In the US thatās a good amount of time for mat thatās paid, but Iām still crying everyday because I miss her.
I had 6 months and then it was winter break, didnāt go back until she was 7 months. It felt okay. The first couple of days were rough and pumping sucks but I only have to be in the office 3 days a week, wfh the other two so itās okay. 8 or 9 months is probably the best spot for me.
Iām in California and got about 6 months paid due PP issues and went back for a couple of weeks and then got another 3 for summer because I was a teacher. It didnāt feel like enough, even though I know Iām lucky as far the US goes.
22 weeks total but ~18.5 after giving birth (CA). Majority was fully paid by a combination of the state + company. I wish I could've taken a year, especially because we ended up breastfeeding for over 2. Still with the same company but moved states and was told I now get nothing if I plan to have another kid because I'm in Indiana š
I am in California. I was offered 4 weeks before the due date and 3 months after. I ended up taking 2 weeks before due date and Iāll take the full 3 months (Iām getting induced Saturday). I feel lucky to be in California. But Whatās hard about these rules is letās say a baby is in NICU for a month, that eats into your leave. With my first, 3 months felt like almost enough, but I wanted 1 more month.
American in the UK. I took almost exactly a year. Standard mat leave pay here is I think 90% pay for 6 weeks, then statutory mat pay - which is peanuts (its like Ā£170/week which is roughly $225, not enough to live on at all) - for 33 weeks, then zero pay for the last 13 weeks. Basically it's job protection and most people save up during pregnancy to cover the income shortfall that happens during mat leave. My company does a bit of "top up" as a benefit so in the end I got 100% pay for 8 weeks, then 50% for 8 weeks, then statutory pay for weeks 17-39, then zero for the rest. It's wonderful to be able to take the time, but I'm always telling my American friends it's not some fantasy land where we get a year off fully paid. I felt like a year was perfect. Baby was needing more stimulation by the 10-11 month mark, and I was getting restless and needing to go back to doing something for me during the day.
For my first I took 3mo and I was no where near ready, I was an absolute hot mess. My second Iāve taken 4.5mo (starts daycare tomorrow š„²) and itās much better than 3mo but still not enough. I think 6mo would be perfect for me, I love my job and care about my career progression and wouldnāt want to take 12mo.
Got one year with my first, planned to take 1.5 years with the second but went back a couple months early (partner got the remaining weeks). I was incredibly lucky that my employer topped up to 93% of my salary (on top of Canadaās mat/parental leave of 55%ish). Definitely enough time, I loved being home with my kids for the first year.
18 months all paid
With my first, I actually felt ready to go back to work after 3 months. It was winter and I felt very isolated. With my second, I was not ready to go back after 3 months, but didnāt have a choice. It was just so much more hectic with 2 and he wasnāt a good sleeper, so I just could have used more time.
American, active duty military. I got 18 weeks off and I'm grateful for that but I think 6 months would be a better balance between Mom's needs and those of the workforce. Look, I'm realistic and I know we'll all need to pay more taxes to subsidize longer paid leave. Americans don't want that. It only works in the military because we step up and bear the brunt of gapped billets and don't get paid more or overtime when we do more work. It was really hard on my coworkers who had to do my job while I was gone and then I came back and paid it back when someone else in our department got pregnant. But I do think 6 months would help with breastfeeding and mitigate the strain on childcare. Heck, I might have taken the last two months unpaid if I could but that's not an option. We don't get to keep extending our leave using disability like I've seen some of my civilian friends do.
I had 12 weeks paid and it was plenty.
We had our son at the beginning of 2020. I quit my job because of childcare costs and my husband was planning to take a week off, unpaid. The day we had him was the first day of lockdown and my husband couldnāt go to work for a year and a half. I canāt believe how lucky we got. I know it was a hard time for many, but it was a blessing for us. My husband got to be more involved than we ever anticipated. With the way everything is now, I donāt think heād even get a full week off if we had another baby. (We live in the US.)
I got 10 paid, 12 total, then didnāt go back to work. (My employer knew I wasnāt coming back but still paid me which was very nice of them). About to go back to a different job in August when she will be 20months, but itās a 6 month contract so I may or may not go back to SAHM life in Feb 2025.
4 months. It was not even close to enough.
I got very lucky, I didnāt go back to work until my son was 17 months. I was getting burnt out and needing a change in routine.
I was working for a university in California when I had my second and got nearly five months off totalā¦ I received eight weeks paid maternity leave for my C-section (because I worked for a government entity my disability was a private firm and not state disability, hilarious how that works) and then I had three months paid bonding leave. It was only enough because I could work from home and could work on my own schedule (the research and public outreach I was doing was almost exclusively online at that point still).
I got three months paid (a little more because it was during the holiday season). I was ready to go back to work, though with the contingency that I work from home so I got to keep caring for my kiddo. I kept him home and worked/cared for him for just shy of two years before he started daycare. I love my job and would be bored not working, but adore the flexibility of working from home in a flexible job.
5 months full time, then went back about 5-10 hours a week (but had 16 hours childcare over 3 days). Over time I have ramped up to 15-20 hours of work and 24 hours of childcare (3 full days), at 19 months.Ā I plan to stay at this rate till my second is born and I go on full leave again, probably when she is about 3. It has been perfect, I am really lucky to get to set it up exactly how I have wanted.Ā
Im self-employed in an artistic field and I did a few hours a day at 3 weeks and then full time (including traveling) at 8 weeks. I had a C-section and was feeling back to myself at 3 weeks. this was during Covid peak and my husbandās job wasnāt back yet, so when I traveled he came along and watched baby. Thatās what I wanted and I loved it. I completely agree that a year seems appropriate for most mothers.
I got 8 weeks recover for c-section and then 12 weeks family leave. Iām in the middle of my leave nowā¦I donāt think it will be enough. I donāt wanna leave my baby. I need to work in some capacity though.
I got 18 weeks. 6 paid and then I used sick & vacation time for the rest of it. and then I only went back part-time so I was still a SAHM during the weekdays. I was honestly ready to gtfo of the house for a break from mom-ing. I hope your baby is doing well now !
I took 4 months total, first 3 months at full pay last month at like 25%. Heās my 3rd and final baby so I knew what to expectā¦ with each kid it wasnāt so much that I wasnāt ready to go back to work as I didnāt want to close the door on such a special chapter with my kids. Itās the only opportunity Iāll have to be home with them like that and it was always really sad for it to be over. Was it enough for me to be ready to go back to work? Yes. Would I have wanted more time? 100% yes. Iām also grateful that I got as much time as I did because in the US I definitely had a longer leave than most. Iām fortunate that I work from home 99% of the time and have a nanny at the house with my kids, if that wasnāt the case it would have been so much harder to transition back to work.
First child: 12 weeks paid (some was full pay some was 80% pay). It actually felt fine to me at the time, but part of that was I didnāt really go out and find community so I was just home alone with the baby a lot and that was hard for me.Ā Second child: 16 weeks paid (some full pay some 80%). Going back wasnāt terrible, but I would have happily stayed home a little longer if I had more paid leave! I did a better job of finding a community and getting out of the house.Ā As someone who gets enjoyment out of my career, I think in a perfect world for me, 6 months paid leave would be ideal.Ā
12 months with my first. It wasn't long enough so I ended up becoming a sahm. I went back to work part time after my second so I ended up taking the 12 months as going back part-time worked really well for me. 18 month parental leave was introduced here between my 1st & 2nd children and I would have taken the 18 month leave if I was working full time because that would be about perfect.
I got 4 paid weeks and took an additional 2 weeks off with STD. I worked from home but It was still NOT enough.
6 weeks both times, not covered by FMLA, but got full pay because my company isnāt terrible, just small. Nope not long enough.
I was given 6 weeks unpaid leave and a guarantee my job would be waiting for me. No, it was not long enough.
I worked in a school and we were offered zero maternity leave. I didnāt qualify for Paid Parental Leave or Disability because of working in a school. I had to use my own time and then the rest unpaid. I decided to just quit and be a stay at home mom.
I wish I couldāve taken long enough to sleep train! I took 3 months and my baby started going through his 4 month regression early. Literally the week before I went back to work his sleep got messed up. š«
US mom here, privileged to be working for a small family business- I took 8 months mostly unpaid but went in here and there to tidy things up/ perform my audits. I was back before my big external audit (quality systems) now I work 1 day/ week regularly and whenever I need to to complete my stuff. Underpaid for the project I complete but literally canāt beat the āI go when I wantā schedule so š¤·āāļø (worked my ass off over 15 years for them to get this sweet deal)
4 months. Had to use all my vacation. Definitely not enough
England here... I'm currently on mat leave, we get 90% of pay for 6 weeks, then its about Ā£180 a week until baby is 9 months old. You can then choose to take another 3 months unpaid so 12 months off in total. You also accrue holiday pay while you're on leave so a lot of companies encourage you to take one last month off as annual leave before you go back. Your job is also pretty much guaranteed to be safe. Mothers are extremely well protected by the law here. I don't think that's good enough. If it were up to me we would have 100% pay for 3 months then 80% pay for another 9 months. I was paid better on furlough during covid. I feel sorry for the USA mammas. Your country disgusts me in so many ways. Nobody should be expected to go back to work 6 weeks after having a baby.
Nurse practitioner in US. I had to work right up to the day before my due date. I had a c-section and got paid 60% for 6 weeks. It would have been 4 weeks if vaginal birth. I used vacation days to extend it to 3 months. My husband works for a German based company and got 6 weeks 100% pay and the first month back only had to work 20 hours a week. My husband literally got better parental leave than me.
Iām on month 4/5 of maternity leave out of 12 and no, I can confidently say itās not enough, youāll need to drag me back to work - but I have to go back otherwise I owe my work 6 months worth of my salary
Six weeks. My current job doesnāt offer it, period. Either you have saved sick and vacation leave or you donāt. If you donāt or if you run out, you must apply for FMLA if youāve been there for over a year. If you havenāt, then just hope they hold your spot as you donāt get paid. As most public safety entities, this is not uncommon and needs to change.
4 weeks before and 6-8 weeks after and I work full time at a very prestigious university in California as a staff. It felt like literal torture going back to work I was so depressed. It did not get better until 8 months. Fuck whichever man decided on this amount of time.
12 weeks, unpaid. Well, two weeks were paid because I had PTO available and I was forced to use all of it up as part of my 12 weeks of maternity leave. So now I'm back at work with no PTO available, and I'm not allowed to take a day off without PTO or I'll lose my health insurance. So if one of my kids has to stay home sick I'm screwed. I love America š« š« š«
thereās no amount of time thatās enough š©·
Due in Aug/Sept and in WA state, my employer qualifies for protected family leave for 12 weeks at 90% pay, my partner gets it too but he has a smaller employer so heās not job protected but weāre taking a gamble that theyāll keep him on like they say they will. Thereās potential for another 6 weeks for me if any complications arise as far as I understand. I donāt believe this will be enough for me so planning to request going to half-time for as long as theyāll allow it so we only need care for one or two days per week.
Cries in American š
I was going to take a year off but then decided not to go back.
I feel like no amount of time is enough. I had a full year and it was not enough for me personally, though Iām super grateful that I was able to do so.Ā
I got a combined 5ish months because I used some sick leave, my parental leave, then a bunch of personal/vacation leave that I'd been saving for several years. I also timed my pregnancy for the second year of a two-year leave cycle so I had 2 weeks of personal leave (instead of just one) and rolled over some vacation that I would have lost if it had been between 2 year cycles. I also went back to work from home for 3 weeks in the middle for an annual project that extended my leave for an extra few weeks. Honestly, I was ready by the time I went back. I'd actually started hiring a nanny for 4 hours per day a couple days a week to give me a break for the last month of my leave. I love my kiddo but I am NOT meant to be a SAHP. I also went back to work full time just 3 weeks after having an emergency c-section to my micro-preemie while he was in the NICU so that I could save my time for when he came home. That's a decision that I will always struggle with just a little - it was good for my mental health I think to not be living in the NICU but I think it's pretty fucked up that I had to make that choice - be with him while he was in the hospital or be with him when he came home. I wish I could have had more options.
I had a year off, paid. It wasnāt enough. After the year ended I decided to be a stay-at-home mom because I just couldnāt fathom leaving my baby. We struggled financially but made it work. The priority was now to raise my child at home so we made a lot of sacrifices and figured it out.
Full paid : 6 weeks before birth + 10 weeks after I took 2 more month of unpaid leave because 2 month after birth is really nothing....
I have a question, are the people saying they have unpaid leave also not getting short term disability (60% pay)? Iām asking because to me I consider that somewhat paid, I have a friend who considers it unpaid even though sheās going to get the 60% pay.
I only get 8 weeks and i have already flown through 4! š
6 weeks with the first baby, I had twins 1 yr later and quit my job for 6 months
16 months. 4 months of that was actually unemployment because I took voluntary redundancy from my previous place while I was on mat leave. It wasnāt enough and it was also too much. I miss my son like mad now Iām working again but also I felt like my brain had turned to absolute mush. Not cut out to be a SAHM at all.
(US) 8 weeks paid for csection, took another 4 in FMLA but had to use up my pto. But ultimately ended up quitting to stay home.
I get four months off (*not* all paid) and definitely didnāt find it enough. A year seems much more humane.
Iām taking ~3.5 months off with this baby and I had 3 months off with my first. Iām a teacher so I plan my pregnancies to have the summer off
12 weeks, and no. I went back to work and bawled my eyes out as soon as I walked out from dropping my baby off with her daycare teacher. I couldnāt handle it and quit after about 5 weeks of being back, fiancĆ© works and supports the both of us so Iām staying home until she starts school. So sad that the government doesnāt make it a requirement for moms and dads to get a year of paid leave in the US.
I got 4 months. 6 weeks of disability and then 12 weeks of bonding. Iām in New York State and both were mostly paid by the state and I took some sick/vacation so I got the full pay. No it wasnāt enough
I took 10 months off, which we afforded due to having dirt cheap rent in our studio apartment at the time. I think if I could go back and redo things, I would have gone back to work earlier and moved to our larger space much sooner. Even with our space saving solutions, it was so hard to live in that space with a baby. I barely slept that whole first year due to being kept alert by every stir of my son sleeping so close by. Of course the time with baby was also valuable especially the first 4 months or so, but I was lonely, exhausted and bored, and not as good of an activity planner as I thought Iād be. Once my son started at his nice in-home daycare life got easier. I could engage with adults and challenge my brain again at work, and baby got valuable socialization skills as well as much more enriching structured activities. I used to be soo jealous of people who could afford full-time stay at home parenting, but it is not for everyone.
I took a year off when my daughter was born. We were really lucky we could afford it as I didnāt receive any paid leave at all. It makes me really sad to know that if we have a second, I will only be able to take a few months off š¢
9 months with my first and 10 with my second. And with my first i also had to take two months unpaid leave afted dads leave, before kindergarden. And dad had 6 months with the first, and 3 months with the second
TLDR: 16 weeks. Not enough at all! You are not alone in your feelings. I switched to 2 days a week when I went back. āā I work as an attorney at a District Attorneyās Office in the US (criminal prosecution). 12 weeks FMLA (unpaid, but you can get paid by using any sick and vacation time you had banked) + 4 weeks paid maternity leave (you have to return to work after to get those 4 weeks paid by the city) = 16 total It was not enough time at all. I delivered baby 1 in 2019. I lasted 1 day after coming back to work. On day 2, I was crying in my bossās office. I switched to working 2 days a week, and have been doing that ever since (except March-July 2020 when I was home because my courtroom was closed)! I also had baby 2 in 2022. For me, there would never be enough time off. Our plan was for me to be a SAHM, but my husband and I (with some very caring and supportive input from my mother and sis-in-law) decided that going to work for 2 days a week would be good for my mental health (hx of depression, anxiety). Basically that I would have a place to go 2 days a week where I had to arrive to court on time and have taken a shower or I would get āin trouble.ā My MIL watched the baby on Wed and my mom on Fri until they were 1, and then they started the preschool. The kids enjoy their preschool, but I still feel guilty that they are not home 100% with me.
I took 4 months because I had saved my vacation up to add to it. I ended up never going back to work full time, ended up taking a per diem hospital job working nights (Iām an RN) and then went part-time to get benefits when we planned to conceive our second. I am very lucky to be able to work off shifts when my husband is home from work so Iām essentially a stay at home working mom lol. It works for us though.
10 weeks. I think I wouldāve liked about 4-6 months total. *ETA Iām a teacher and I had baby on August 1, so I got 8 weeks off before delivery. That was really nice. But I just lucked into that with timing.
I got 6 weeks unpaid (thank you state of Texas HHS). That ended up being 1 week prior to birth for bed rest and then 5 weeks postpartum. My boss called me on Christmas Eve to see if I could come in Christmas Day. I still had another week of planned leave, so I politely declined. Gotta love being a nurse in the United States!
I got 6 months off. 4.5 was fully paid, 1.5 unpaid. Iām in the U.S., but work for a big company that touts this as a big employee benefit for hiring and retention. It felt like the perfect amount. I was out of the newborn haze, baby was sleeping better at night and I was ready for the mental stimulation of work. And I needed my paycheck and employer match for healthcare back - I was *not* expecting the huge healthcare bill I got during the unpaid portion of my leave.
UK here and I have a good company policy. I had a month off before (accrued leave) that became 3 weeks as baby came early. Then I had 12 months maternity leave (6 months full pay, 3 months statutory pay and 3 months unpaid). Then 3 further weeks off at full pay for leave accrued whilst off. So total time off was almost 13.5 months. The 6 months full pay helped me budget for the 6 months I was paid very little or not at all. I was lucky that we got a cost of living bonus and normal bonus in those low pay months so I only had 2 months where I got a circa Ā£100 pay packet. I didnāt feel ready to leave him then (with my very capable mum) and found going back to work (part-time) a struggle. I only find it comfortable now as heās 2.5yo and an utter whirlwind!
šŗšøhere. I took 16 weeks full pay and my husband is taking 18 weeks full pay now. I donāt think this is enough, I wish I myself had a full year before returning. I lost my supply coming back to work and now Iām so stressed out as we will have to send him to daycare at 8 months old. I just canāt deal with it and am struggling emotionally.
With my first i went back to work two weeks after giving birth- and the baby came WITH me. With my second I took two months unpaid time.
All of my leave was unpaid. I had an emergency c-section, then went back to the hospital for PP preeclampsia, almost died from that, then contracted a blood infection from the hospital and didn't get to be actually home with my baby until almost 4 weeks PP. My doctor said I absolutely could not go back to work at my originally planned 6 weeks...but I had to in order to pay bills. So yeah, I got 2 weeks to cuddle my baby without IVs and heart monitor stickers all over me before going back. I'm still a bit traumatized almost 6 years later. I have a friend who had her baby on a Wednesday and was back at work that following Monday. Gotta love that (non-existent) US maternity leave.
I work for a small, private company in the US. I get 12 weeks paid, with the option of an additional 12 weeks unpaid upon manager approval. This is my second maternity leave with this company in the 3 1/2 years that Iāve been there. Iām very senior in the company and revenue generating so it would be hard, in good conscience, to take the entire 6 months (mostly because I need to know Iāll have a paycheck with I return lol) Since I WFH it makes it easier. I was able to work and have my first baby home with me for 2 years. Albeit very, very difficult. Donāt know how I couldāve put him in care at 3 months
Do United States is the absolute worst. I live in Canada and when I had my maternity leave it was 12 months. My company did not top me up but I got 55% of my pay. Now you can do 12 months at that or 18 months but I believe the last six months is a bit less pay. I took my 12 months with my son and I did not feel that it was enough. Iām grateful that I got those 12 months but to be honest I think itās absolutely horrific to not have one year be a minimum in every country in the world! At three months your baby is literally still just coming out of the newborn bubble and hasnāt even gotten to the age where theyāre able to learn sleep patterns and routines and nap routines and they need you for all of that. Not to mention that when my kids were six months old and I had a well-established naptime and bedtime they went to bed at 6:30 PM or seven for the following two years so if I had gone back to work I wouldāve seen them for a very rushed stressful one hour in the morning and I wouldāve been home in time to see them maybe for an hour if I wanted them to go to bed on time on a proper routine for a baby that age and have a good night sleep etc. When my husband and I sat down after my Matley was almost over and really looked at the logistics of day-to-day life and what that would mean for our child and what that would mean for us as a family it just seemed all bad. And trust me we had zero money at the time we were $70,000 in debt and my husband had just started a career in real estate with no business experience which was all commission based it was terrifying but I wouldnāt of done it any other way. We made a lot of financial sacrifice in order to make that happen and it was well worth it. Even here in Canada when we go back to work after a year the rates of women suffering from depression anxiety distress on Amerige women overworking themselves burning the candle at both ends consistently every day having mental breakdowns and children especially babies and toddlers spending most of the years where they could be building trust and confidence in family life and bonding with you and also having the parent there for all of the toddler years the teaching moments that disciplinary moments what to say and how to say it and what exactly to do based on their development thatās almost solely being done by a nanny or someone at a daycare. To me I think every woman should have the option if she wants to work but she should also have the option to be home. I live in Canada and I am envious of what they have over in Europe in some countries where itās very much family oriented and all of society companies and workplaces seem very much focussed on keeping their employees happy and in order to do that family life needs to be happy. Itās a real missing link it seems
I got 8 weeks paid at 40% of my salary and 4 weeks of unpaid for bonding that I wonāt be able to take because we canāt afford it. It is no where near enough. I have 2.5 weeks left being home with him and Iām absolutely dreading going back to work and leaving him.
I took 7 months. Eight weeks was fully paid by my employer, the rest was paid by Canadian employment insurance at $590/week. My husband is now on 6 months of parental leave he gets 8 weeks fully paid by our employer (we work for the same company) then heāll transition to employment insurance. Seven months was nice, it was enough to adjust to parenthood, but easy to transition back to work. Iām also loving my husband taking a good chunk of leave. Itās preventing me from falling into the default parent trap, which as someone who is career focused is awesome.
In BC Canada, you can have up to 69 weeks of parental benefits which can be split between the two parents as long as no one takes more than 61 weeks Thereās also 15 weeks of maternity leave on top of that available to the birth giving parent Current benefits are (government provided) Maternity leave 55% of regular income. Max of $668/week (15 week max) Standard parental leave 55% of regular income. Max of $668/week (40 weeks max, can be shared with 35 week max per parent) Extended parental leave 33% of regular income. Max of $401/week (69 weeks max, can be shared but 61 week max per parent)
6 weeks unpaid. Definitely not enoughĀ
I work IT for a big hospital in the city. We donāt have maternity leave. I have 8 weeks of short term disability. If I wouldnāt have had a C-section, I only would have gotten 6 weeks.
4 years unpaid
I live in Quebec , Canada and took 18 months: 6 months paid at 75% of my salary, 6 months at 55% and the las 6 months is on me. But I am lucky to have a husband who has a good income.
I had 12 months and at the time it didnāt feel like enough but was ok in the end. At 3 months I was lucky to go walk my dog without baby attached, I canāt imagine going back to work so soon!
Like others in Europe, I took 13 months. 6 months of this was full pay and some of the rest of the time had some government support. I am also using unpaid parental leave to reduce my working days to 4 a week. ETA we must take our maternity leave at least 2 weeks before the due date in my country.
Iām in California which a lot of people donāt realize actually has pretty good maternity leave. I got 4 weeks pre birth (ended up being 2 bc LO came 2 weeks early) and then a week shy of 6 months after the birth. This was all through the state program and nothing through my employer. I realize how lucky I am to have gotten 6 mo in the US and Iām SO thankful I got that time with my baby. That said I think a year would be perfect. I was finally coming out of the newborn fog at like 4-5 mo pp and had a few weeks to really do fun things with LO and then it was bam back to work. Just seeing that glimmer of what a long maternity leave could look like with an older baby makes me think a year would be incredible.
5.5 months with first baby. It was sort of enough (but also, a pandemic happened so then we werenāt sending her to childcare and we were trying to work with no childcare in a 1 bedroom apartment and that was wild and hard). Second kid is almost 8 months, and I feel ready to go back to work part time. For a variety of family reasons, I will be a SAHM to both kids til he is about 10 months, and then will look for work (full time likely, though I would prefer part time. But itās hard to find in my field). I recently started having a nanny come a few hours a week, though. Worth noting, the second leave was totally unpaid as I ran a consulting business before my leave, and will be looking for a job after. So, I could take as long as I āwantedā, but only as long as our savings last
6 weeks at 100% pay and then the rest of the year at 55% pay. Canada has an option for 18 months but it's really low pay.
5 months w first. Second was WFH during covid and stayed home for 11 months til we had to put him in daycare which was a bit of a blessing for my situation. Looking back Iām grateful for that opportunity to be w him so long