In 2001, the federal Parental Benefits Program in Canada increased the length of sharable paid parental leave benefits from 10 to 35 weeks, combined with 15 weeks of maternity leave.
My children were born in 1997 and 1999; I did not plan to have anymore children. I figured words like “parental leave” and “maternity benefits” were not a part of my future, or so, I thought.
In the September edition of Canadian Business magazine Jasmine Budak wrote an interesting article about the ”dark side” of maternity leave, here, in Canada. In it, Budak highlights some of the difficulties that employers and (also other employees) face when an employee takes maternity leave.
Budak says:
Today, the year-long mat leave is standard practice…yet even as employers accommodate parents, particularly in fields that fiercely compete for talent, their concerns haven’t changed much from a decade ago. Many businesses struggle with the financial and efficiency burdens of filling temporary positions, especially if they’re senior or highly skilled roles.
They can’t be sure if the new parents will return after their leaves or choose to cut back their workload—or quit altogether. Meanwhile, resentment may brew among remaining staff forced to shoulder extra work demands. Perhaps worst of all, employers can’t even complain.
As I near my Rainbow’s first birthday, I am very lucky to have had the chance to stay home with him for a year. However, the pressure to go back to work has been very present, and frustrating for me. My boss asked me to return to work in June because my replacement did not work out, and they didn’t want to go through the process of finding another only to have me return in October or November.
In June, Rainbow was 8 months old. There were people who believed that this request was not totally unfair, because “…he’s past 6 months…”, some of them said. Others (colleagues) argued that “…it’s better than the 6 weeks that some women get…”
Boy, did I feel guilty, and selfish about wanting to take the full year. Worst yet, I felt a great deal of anxiety over my decision to even consider it.
In the end, I said I would return, but my heart was not into it.
The truth is that many other women in the world do not enjoy a long maternity leave (as Canadian women do).
However, I would like to separate the issues. Women are in their child-bearing years for quite some time, wouldn’t you agree? How society expects to go around that is unclear.
There is a nagging feeling in the back of my mind however, that if and when women exercise their rights to go on maternity leave, and have their employers reserve their position for that year that they will lose out. I fear that employers will resort to the easiest route – hiring more men than women in professional/management positions.
The reality is that I continued my post-secondary education so that I could have options, and I took maternity leave because it was and is my right as a Canadian woman who has worked and contributed to society.
What are the parental benefits in your Province/State/Country? How do you feel about it?
(PS. My husband took a position in another province. We relocated in July…so I never made it back to my job.)
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Salma of Canada. You can find Salma blogging at The Imperfect Stepford Chronicles and Chasing My Rainbow Baby.
Photo credit to George Ruiz. This photo has a creative commons attribution license.
Salma, here in Norway we also get a year maternity/paternity leave (it is a year in total, but the father have to take a set number of weeks, my husband took 4 months off). I think it is great to have that much time to recover and get used to this new life, but I can understand that it is difficult for the employeer. I also think that it might be slightly more difficult for a woman to get a new job when she is at a certain age, or at a certain stage in her life, as the employeer will probably expect her to take some time off. However, I have not had any negative experiences myself, and my employeer is very understanding and supportive!
Hello Asta, the time is very much needed and I really understand how difficult it is for employers. I think the best thing that has happened is paternity leave as well, because it shows it’s not just about the “mother”, it ‘s about “family”.
I’m glad that your employer is very supportive, and I would say that personally I didn’t experience blatant resentment, Thank God.
I am a teacher from New Jersey, U.S., and every school district is different, but mine allowed up to 2 years for maternity leave. This meant if I came back after(or before) the two years, I would still have a position, but it wouldn’t be the same grade or even school that I was in before maternity leave. I ended up staying home an additional year and “resigning” from my job, but it is a very tough and personal decision. Luckily I didn’t feel any pressure from my district. I do know some teacher friends who very much wanted to stay in the same school and grade level as they were in before they took leave, so they would take off the allowed 3 months and then go back to ensure that they would have their classroom back. That is alot of pressure I think! I was lucky enough to figure it out where financially I could stay home for these past 3 years, but for moms who don’t have that, I can’t imagine the turmoil they have to deal with.
Nikki, that would be tough not knowing where you will end up after MAT leave.
Is the decision (from the school board) based on having some consistency with the students? It sure is a lot of pressure.
Until I started speaking to other moms, I just assumed that MAT leave was pretty basic, but now, I findit’s pretty complicated.
I’m glad that you were able to stay home (by choice). Not having a choice is tough, I agree.
Salma,
I can’t imagine the guilt/pressure on you when you were asked if you could return early. You are not alone. I know many friends who were in a similar position.
My husband’s company gives him a week (I pretty sure it’s one and not two weeks — those first few weeks are a blur!) paternity leave. The first time I was pregnant, I had already left work and was in graduate school full-time, so there were not maternity benefits for me. The second time, I was a stay-at-home mom, and I guess you can say that I did my job up until the birth! In the state of NJ you are allowed 12 weeks of unpaid family leave.
Thank you for writing about your innermost feelings on this topic!
Jen 🙂
Jen it’s really funny. I did say “yes” and then hubby got this new position, so I got my year.
Now I’m dragging my feet to get back to work.
My situation with the first 3 kids is similar to yours, I was never in the position to get MAT leave before, so I never thought about all the things that come with a new baby (besides sleepless nights and dirty diapers).
I love this post. I have always wondered how this all worked. What a tough position to be put in. I agree – 6 months is 6 months. It’s not “long enough” or anything. It’s just 6 months. So glad it worked out for you.
Hi Diana, yes, I’ve learned afew things as well.
You know I wouldn’t have had a problem going back if I knew that I would really be able to get back that time with my baby. But I knew where I was going back to, and the long hours, and it broke my heart.
Thanks for commenting.
I’m in Canada as well, and I was entitled to the year-long mat leave when my first son was born. Like you, I was asked to return early, and like you, I found it to be a huge dilemma. I did go back early but hated it. I was working in a male-dominated environment, and I sensed a lot of resentment when I went back. In the end, I gave up work after just a few months. I was a stay-at-home mom until my second child was about a year old.
The environment I work in currently is very tolerant of women taking mat leave. No difficulties, no resentment, no career limitations.
Kirsten
Kirsten, I am sorry that you went through that, but I am very happy that you have been able to find that balance in a better environment.
As we have just left Ontario I am in a position to choose my next job very carefully. It’s funny because Rainbow is our last baby, but I am so stuck on trying to find a great employer who is really good about family…whatever that means these days.
Hmm, is it a Canadian thing, asking moms to return early?
I really believe all women should have that long maternity leave. In Oman (where I come from and live) we get 45 days maternity leave, and then you go back to work or take your thirty something days annual leave. You go back to work, get engorgement, cry alone thinking of your little infant at home and still suffering from muscle and backache. Your milk starts drying out before you know it.
Your decision was right, what is best than spending each moment with your little kid in the first year?:)
MoOn, I have heard a similar account of going back to work early from another mom in the Netherlands. You have just painted a picture for me that I am so happy that I didn’t have to go through.
I think all families should have at least a year at the least.
There is absolutely nothing better than being with and watching your little one grow in the first year.
Salma, that was really interesting, thanks for sharing this with us. When I first heard about the generous and almost ridiculously long maternity leave in Canada, I joked that we should move there. Here in the States we visit the other side of ridiculous by having only 6-8 weeks of official paid maternity leave in many instances and then an option to exercise the FMLA (Family & Medical Leave Act) which allows 3-months more of unpaid leave.
When we put our first born in day care at five months, I was heart broken but quickly got back into a groove at work. When I later lost my job and stayed home with her from 11 mos on (and then our second child for his whole life so far), I felt really lucky to have the option to be home.
I can also understand the burdens that such a long parental leave act places on employers and colleagues though and agree that there may be a shift in the hiring of women in “child bearing years” at higher levels of management. What a step backwards for making a move that seemed so progressive for Canada….
Very interesting topic, Salma. It fascinates me to learn about the global differences in maternity leaves. Here, in Indonesia the ‘rules’ are 3 months paid maternity leaves. I never experience this before.
To be honest, I’m not sure what the allowance is here in New Zealand for maternity leave – as it’s changed since I stopped work before having our eldest son. I do think this is an issue we need to face as a society – and it is tricky, especially for small businesses.
I love Canada’s benefits, and I loved my year off, but Moms get a hard rap no matter what. I just went back to work and I feel guilty and secretive every time I sneak off to pump. I’ve been given a hard time for my daycare’s hours, because it limits my own hours…
It’s just tough being a mom in a working world.
Here we get three months. After that you can take unpaid leave up to a year and have your job held. (As long as you have been working permanently at the job for more than a year.) You can also choose after the three months to work part time up to a year (even if your job is fulltime).
I was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma (USA) and I had my son when I was just a few months shy of 21 years old. Thankfully, I was not in college at the time or in a career. Most places in Oklahoma only give the mother 6 weeks off. 6 WEEKS!!! I cannot even imagine only having 6 weeks. I am now about half way through college and I’m not sure what I will do when we have more kids and I’ll be working. Maybe we should move to Canada 🙂 After the birth of our son my hubs and I decided that I would be a stay at home mom. Working a low paying job and paying for high child care costs was just not worth it for our family. I have always been extremely disappointed with most maternity leave options for parents in the state of Oklahoma.
Great post. Here in Korea mothers have a mandatory 16 weeks paid of maternity leave with an option to extend for (I think) up to 45 more days unpaid. However, most women are pressured to leave the workforce entirely once they’ve had children, not only by their employers but their families and societies in general. Women’s place here is in the home, period, end of story.
Having said that, I think your post brings up something very important, which is the fact that the natural rhythm of life – i.e. women having children during their child-bearing years – does not jive with capitalism, and as such will always be a problem on someone’s end. In the US, where 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave with companies over 50 employees is standard, capitalism wins. In countries like Canada and Norway, they put the “burden” on employers and are, in my opinion, more pro-family.
Of course, I don’t think women having children should be seen as a burden. If we want strong and healthy societies, we need strong and healthy families. Allowing for generous parental leave makes for stronger happier families. I don’t think many would dispute this. I think if we as a global society could stop seeing the bottom line as the most important thing, these problems would disappear. That is a tall order, though!