Perhaps it goes without saying, I'm not sure, but unless I miss my guess, in some (if not most) of the countries that provide "paid maternity leave", the pay comes not from the employer, but from public funds (such as an unemployment insurance system). This does not change the thrust of your article, but the phrase "paid maternity leave" may lead readers to suppose that the pay is coming out of the employer's pockets. It may be in some cases, but I'm certain not in all.

What about aMENding the law so each gender gets 6 months paid leave? Why let it be up to the vaginate to, nobless oblige, confer semi-equality on the father?

That being said, bloody good for the Brits (despite their anti-male family courts)! It's a start. And, as fembots always say, there's still much-much-much-much-much-much-much-much-much-much-much-much more to be done to make things equal for men on the domestic/home/kids front.

Of course, that still beats the situation in the U.S., where a man seeking time off to care for his newborn is likely to be laughed out of the boardroom...</>

Not necessarily so. A friend of mine here in the US just returned from 3 months paternity leave. Of course it wasn't all paid leave. He had to used accumulated vacation time, and possibly sickness time (I'm not sure on this), and unpaid leave.

Depends on the job and the employer, which in his case is the state government.

Of course, that still beats the situation in the U.S., where a man seeking time off to care for his newborn is likely to be laughed out of the boardroom...

Not necessarily so. A friend of mine here in the US just returned from 3 months paternity leave. Of course it wasn't all paid leave. He had to used accumulated vacation time, and possibly sickness time (I'm not sure on this), and unpaid leave.

Depends on the job and the employer, which in his case is the state government.

We already lavish benefits on parents never mind tax breaks. Here's a thought. How about people who have children pay their own way? No more tax breaks for children. I'm tired of subsidizing other people's kids. It's time we slapped a tax on children instead of tax breaks.

How about the people who get WIC, SCHIP, welfare, etc, actually pay for it?

Well MMM, since you missed Biology 101, that would be because since the dawn of time, every baby ever born was gestated in the WOMB OF A MOTHER, and that mother had to carry the pregnancy, take on physical risks (even death) and then go through childbirth, including many hours of labor OR a c-section, which is full-court abdominal surgery, with a lengthy recovery time. That gives you certain privileges as well as responsibilities, and one is that YOU GET THE MATERNITY LEAVE (if there even is any, which in the US is doubtful) and you get to decide how to parcel it out, if that option exists.

I do know stay at home dads, and dads who took parental leave. In the US, parental leave is possible, but rare because it is not paid. Unlike European countries, with their alarming falling birth rates, we have no need (or desire!) to pay people to replicate -- they are doing that nicely (over-doing it!) on their own. However, there is a Family Leave Act, and it applies to fathers as well as moms, and to parents of adopted infants.

I notice that the Brits are paying 123 pounds a week in pay for a year, which is a heck of a lot better than nothing at all (the US way of independence, cough cough) but is about $190 a week if I have got my exchange rate correct. That is around $900 a month, nothing anyone is getting rich on...and not enough for a single mom to get by on, unless she would also qualify for their equivalent of food stamps, housing subsidy, and ADC. You could not live, let alone support one child (or more) on $900 a month, it's well below the poverty level.

Hey – let’s just extend maternity and paternity leave indefinitely. It’ll be great, nobody will have to do anything but blog all day! Childless people can pay for those with children and nobody will have to ever do any real, you know, work!

What an exotic Eden!

Let's get some things straight here. In the US, FMLA must be offered equally to all employees (who have met employment requirements) regardless of gender. It is only required for companies with greater than 50 employees. The leave is unpaid. No one's tax money is used to fund FMLA. FMLA is not maternity leave. It is for any serious health condition or care of a family member that prevents an employee from performing their job.

Most mid to large American companies provide paid benefits to their employees. This can include health insurance, education reimbursement and different types of paid and unpaid leave such as vacation, disability leave or sabbaticals. Again, NOT paid for by tax payers. The leave is provided equally to men and women, the only "extra" benefit that new birth mothers get is what is called Short Term Disability leave and that is only provided for when you are under the care of a doctor recovering from giving birth. It is the same type of leave that would be used by an employee recovering from a skiing injury. It is normally fully paid for a certain time and then goes down to a percentage of pay. Outside of this, if new parents want to get paid while on FMLA, they typically use their earned vacation time.

And I've seen lots of new fathers use their earned time off to take care of their newborns and none were laughed out of the board room. I don't konw how old Judy Berman is and other than Salon, what her work history is, but things are changing. Most families in my Gen-X cohort have both parents working. In some cases the wife is the primary earner. Even in my supposed high achieving industry (finance) men typically take time off when a new baby arrives and no one blinks an eye.