While I don't see any contest between Rs/Ds in who values women, I'll try to find out which [if any] Ds voted "nay" and remain in Congress ~ Sooz

On The 20th Anniversary Of The Family Medical Leave Act, Meet The Republican Men Who Voted Against It
By Adam Peck on Feb 5, 2013 at 9:00 am

Twenty years ago today, President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The law, which passed with bipartisan support, gave workers new job protections in the event of a pregnancy or family medical emergency, mandating 12 weeks of unpaid leave. And while FMLA has failed to cover all workers — only employers with more than 50 workers are bound by the law, for instance, and as many as 40 percent of the workforce remains ineligible for FMLA protections — the FMLA has helped millions of women keep their jobs while caring for their newborn child.

And yet in 1993, 163 congressmen in the House voted against the bill. Twenty years later, 19 of those nay votes remain in the House of Representatives, and all of them have a few things in common — namely, their gender and their race:


Much has been made about the Republican Party’s “War on Women,” an ongoing effort by conservative congressmen to roll back the rights of women and perpetuate dangerous myths regarding women’s health. And in nearly every instance of GOP-led initiatives to undermine women’s issues — whether it’s opposition to the Violence Against Women Act or attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, one of the largest providers of life-saving reproductive care — the primary backers have been white Republican men. Last year, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was embarrassed by women’s groups for convening a panel to discuss contraception and refusing to invite a single woman, and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) was admonished in January for his initial failure to elevate anyone but white men to leadership positions in any of the major House committees.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/02/05/1540251/fmla-republicans/

I've talked before about Canada's maternity leave, so I won't go into details. I was telling hubby that SIL will take a week off from work when their new baby is born. He said "Is that ALL? Why?" I explained that, unlike here, any leave is unpaid. He was astounded because even fathers get "paid" maternity leave. It's part of the EI or unemployment insurance, so it's not full pay. I think it's 2/3.

Related to that, the Canadian courts just ruled that a woman who had been working rotating shifts, then had a baby, was being discriminated against when she was refused a fixed shift so that she could arrange child care.

I love that Canada seems to put families first when it comes to child birth and early child care.

A lot depends on the kind/size of business ~ we had generous sick/vacation days policies based on tenure ~ sick days could be carried over from year to year, vacation was limited to carrying 1 week over ~ our new moms were allowed to use sick/vacation time for full pay ~ and there was a short-term disability policy that kicked in after 30 days ~ so ... if you had 30 days banked, you got full pay ~ then the short-term disability kicked in [I think] 2/3s pay up to 90 days total ~ most smaller businesses don't have the depth of personnel to cover long absences ~

Sooz

It's up to one year for the Mom here, with her job protected. They manage and the temp agencies thrive. So many students who will jump at the chance for one year of employment and many who view it as a "one foot in the door" for perhaps a future position. Sometimes the Mom decides not to come back to work too.

I think Dad can take up to 6 months and there is a combined limit (based on weeks) for both, but I'm too lazy to look it up right now, lol.

It's a great, great program that puts children/families ahead of everything else.

Beside the mat pay, the family gets a monthy child tax benefit cheque from the government just because they have a child. It is dependent on income, so it's sort of like welfare. But, if you make $140,000 a year, you can still get $250/mo if you have 5 children!

So, when you are on mat leave and your income is reduced temporarily, you get more money.