Should Dad Get More Leave? (More Government Mandated Benefits Alert!)

Clymer News Network/Finance Division ^ | March 12, 2003 | Jeanne Sahadi

[Recovering_Democrat]

What a joke. How long until a bunch of panty waists DEMAND this as a government mandated benefit??

[Lunatic Fringe]

Be grateful you are allowed to take the unpaid leave without getting fired... SHEESH! And people wonder why corporate profits are tumbling and hence the layoffs....

[pgyanke]

The reason there is so much disconnect on this issue is simple... government. They have bred an entitlement mentality into Americans and the "have nots" want the "free time" they assume the "haves" have. Government is sympathetic to their plight because they produce nothing and nothing is missed when they are not at their post... so what's the problem?

If anyone would talk to the small business owner who doesn't get paid if he doesn't work, they would understand what it means to be an American. Take some time, sure... but recognize it is YOUR TIME and YOUR PRODUCTIVITY and YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

[KarlInOhio]

Where I used to work, we were given 80 hours of parental leave for a new baby which could be taken in one hour increments. A new father figured that meant 20 extra afternoons of golfing that summer.

[CrimeOf73]

Paid paternity leave will just spiral out of control. For example, single men will ask why fathers should get more vacation days than they do. They'll demand equal treatment.

Social engineering always begets more social engineering.

[meowmeow]

When I was born, my mom had her mom and her sister to help her out the first few weeks. They all lived in the same town. If I had a baby right now, I would not have anyone except my husband and brother. Our families live in different parts of the country. People are more spread out now. It's not necessarily another hand out.

[CrimeOf73]

Fascinating. When parents have children, whose children are they: the parents' or the government's? Therefore, whose responsibility are they: the parents' or the government's?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

When pregnant with my daughter, who was born in the fall, my husband saved up all of his vaction days that year, didn't take a single one, knowing that I would need him home for a few days after the birth. We didn't see this as a hardship, just a fact of life. His saving the vacation days, showed prudence and responsibility on his part. Why should the government authorize paid leave for fathers? Fathers have NINE months to anticipate the birth, and plan accordingly.

[Ga Rob]

That is exactly what I am doing. It goes back to the discussion yesterday. Why do so many in the country, "consevatives" included, have such an entitlement mentality??? On the day I was born my Dad was sitting on the Ho Chi Min trail taking pictures...I wonder if he thought about Paternity Leave or any such nonsense?? For some reason I doubt it.

[meowmeow]

Everyone screams when the government does things that undermine the family. Everyone screams when the government tries to help the family.

[meowmeow]

Many of the benefits you enjoy today are the result of government actions long before we were born. I'm not an advocate of bigger government. But I don't think everything it does is pure evil.

[ClearCase_guy]

I scream when the government does stuff. Whether undermining the family or helping the family, I wish the gov't would just back off.

[Ga Rob]

When you find one "benefit" I get from goverment let me know. Please don't list roads, sewers,etc,etc.

I want to know what benefit=entitlement I get from "our" goverment??? Please let me know. I know I pay for alot of "benefits"...just not aware that I get anything out of them. Feel free to correct me though...I'm waiting.

[Consort]

What about pre-dad leave for baby making?

[Ga Rob]

Ha!!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

When my son was born, my husband was out at sea on a submarine. Then, when my son was one month old, my husband left his new son and wife, to go to Pearl Harbor, where his boat was being moved. My husband was there for five months. We didn't have any choice in the matter, either! I couldn't go with him, because the Navy said he was too close to being relieved of duty, and would have to extend a year, to offset the cost of moving his wife and baby to Pearl Harbor.

We survived. And, my husband got out of the Navy. I guess my main point is, having endured this hardship, as new parents, we did not object to the saving of vacation days when it came to the birth of our second child.

[Xenalyte]

Should we ever decide to spawn, it's entirely possible that Xena's Guy will choose to be the stay-at-home dad. He can work from anywhere. I, on the other hand, apparently need an office environment. (I found that out during three weeks of unemployment, during which I hunted for jobs for five hours a day, needlepointed up a storm, and watched Office Space 12 times.)

[Xenalyte]

For example, single men will ask why fathers should get more vacation days than they do.

Well, it DOES suck that as the childless one, I'm expected to stay late and pick up slack because all the moms have to pick up their kids. Childless workers are dumped on more often than not.

[Consort]

If we allow Pre-dad leave for baby making, we'll have to allow Re-dad leave for sibling making.