Maternity Leave.

On our recent trip to Norway, I was constantly asked what kind of maternity leave I will get following the birth of my child. When I said, “None, I’m a freelancer,” people were genuinely shocked. Some then asked, “What if you worked for a company or the government? Would you receive maternity leave benefits then?” I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on the company.” I spent a good deal of my time helping people lift their chins off floors while there. And feeling kind of ashamed, pretty grim about how women are treated here in the U.S. after starting a family. I don’t think it’s right. I don’t think it’s fair. But it’s how it is.

So how good it is it in Norway? And other countries?

In Norway, women have the choice of taking twelve months off at 80% pay following the birth of a child. Or, they can take 10 months off at 100% pay after giving birth. And with no fear whatsoever of losing their job while away. Health care? The state provides it. If you have a baby in Sweden, you get an even sweeter deal: 18 months of paid maternity leave. And Scandinavia isn’t the only region with generous maternity leave policies; Canada offers 50 weeks compulsory paid maternity leave, Italy pays 47 weeks and the U.K. pays 39 weeks. Japan, where I used to live, pays 14. And the U.S.? Under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, women are granted 12 weeks’ unpaid time off to care for a newborn or adopted child with the guarantee of the same job when they return. Twelve weeks. Unpaid. And not all companies have to abide by those guidelines.

As my due date nears (I’m supposed to become a mom on October 30th, though after seeing the doctor today, I’ve been told that I might deliver a bit earlier), I’ve been thinking a lot about how the health insurance industry works – or doesn’t work – in this country, how women cope with so little or no maternity leave benefits, and the pressure that husbands and extended families are under to help out once a new baby enters the family. I imagine like many American women, I’ll go back to work sooner than I want to, not so much because I’ll be sick and tired of baby talk and diaper changing but because financially, I’ll have no choice. We freelancers pay for our health insurance ourselves, and we don’t have employers who make matching contributions to our retirement funds. As much as I am looking forward to welcoming our baby into this world, these issues occupy my thoughts constantly. Sometimes I get outright angry that I have to think about them, and sometimes I just feel resigned that it will always be this way in the U.S. And sometimes I think I should move to Sweden or Italy, not because I want to, but there really is something to be said for living in a country where your most basic needs are taken care of.

So what about my maternity leave? I finally closed shop last week and plan to stay off through the end of this calendar year. However, as I mentioned earlier, I might take on a few assignments before 2009 is up. We’ll see. Things will be a bit quieter here at The M Report, but they won’t be dead. Several guest bloggers will be posting here, and I’m sure I’ll be chiming in here whenever I can. Since launching this blog in July, readership has grown steadily and I’ve been so pleasantly surprised at how many people have agreed to interviews, how well those interviews have turned out, and I’m very excited about the stories I have in the pipeline.

Tagged as: europe, freelance, health insurance, maternity leave, scandinavia, u.s.