It’s good.

Maybe it’s because I’m an oblivious single white dude with no kids (who will soon be an uncle), but I was a bit shocked today to read the following.

According to this month’s National Geographic Magazine, Slovenia (along with Russia, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and few other Eastern European countries) guarantees at least 52 weeks of maternity leave at full pay. Much of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America, Africa and Canada offer anything between a year with half wages to 14 weeks with at least half wages.

Australia, Liberia, Papua New Guinea and the good ole USA offer no paid leave for mothers. By law, the US government “guarantees a mere 12 weeks of unpaid leave under certain conditions, the least of any industrialized nation.” Source: “Who Gives Parents A Break?” August 2007, National Geographic Magazine; research conducted by McGill University

In 66 countries around the world, fathers are granted paternity leave, including 40 paid days required leave for municipal workers in Ota, Japan. Included on the list of countries with more favorable statistics than the US, Cuba and South Korea.

Now I know there are a lot of variables at work here and I don’t have the raw data in hand. I know the number of working mothers varies greatly from country to country, I know many private industries in the US offer paid maternity leave. I also know there are governments who infringe on the reproductive rights of their citizenry with population control laws.

But with all that in mind, I still believe there’s a lot more we can do here for the thousands of families who get little or no leave and compensation from work to birth their children and to spend important formative time with them. And as much as we, in an election year next year, will see phrases like “no child left behind” and “families first” run up the partisan flagpoles; I hope the people put in office will make greater strides in this area than what has been accomplished so far.

That is, throwing the babies out with the bathwater.