NPO: Washington Post Urges Men to ‘Go All In’ for Work and Family

Submitted by Matt on Fri, 2015-06-19 03:45

Article here. Excerpt:

'This article in the Washington Post strikes a blow for men as fathers (Washington Post, 6/6/15). Specifically, it’s about changing parental leave laws and policies to allow dads to spend meaningful time with their kids in the first weeks of life. That of course is a good idea. Mothers biologically bond with their children during pregnancy; fathers do so mostly after their kids are born when testosterone levels take a sharp dive and prolactin levels rise. And children need to see, hear and feel their dads early in their lives to form the usual child/father attachment.

So parental leave for fathers makes sense for dads and their kids.

But societal norms interfere with that. The WaPo article makes clear that expectations of men to be the breadwinner in the family intrude on the father-child dyad. It’s not news that fathers spend much more time at work than do mothers. That’s a behavioral norm that’s evolved over (potentially) millions of years in every known human culture.'

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I dont really know what this article is suggesting. In the USA any man, woman, mother, father can take up to 12 weeks of family leave as per the "Family and Medical Leave Act" (FMLA). Most maternity leaves for new mothers actually fall under this act (it is unpaid leave). Is NPO suggesting that fathers get paid paternity leave? Most mothers dont even get paid maternity leave. Out of all my friends and family who have had babies, I only know one mother who received some paid maternity leave. She worked for one of the rare large companies which offer it (and paternity leave), and it was only two weeks of paid, the rest of her maternity leave was unpaid as per the Family Medical Leave Act. I understand parents wanting time off for a new baby, but if we are talking about paid leave, my question is who pays?

PS- go ahead Thomas and brag about Norway.

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Submitted by Kris on Fri, 2015-06-19 04:55

Here is the thing people forget. Norway is the size of Japan. There are 125million Japanese in a country with no resources. Norway has only FIVE million and HUGE amounts of oil and hydroelectric power. (And people may not realize this, but Norway is one of the world's leading weapons manufacturers; they make a lot of money selling missiles to the US -- people don't know this: http://www.kongsberg.com/en/kps/
Norway is not entirely pacifist.)

Norway CAN engage in this kind of father/mother support. It has the largest sovereign fund in the world from its oil reserves.

Also, Norway has a socialist infrastructure that works for Norway. America's culture is one of small businesses that aspire to greatness (and this requires agility and freedom from excessive taxes).

The US CANNOT indulge in this degree of "Nanny-state." It does not need to do it. There is no urgency to increase the birth rate.

I agree with you Kris. Who will pay? No one ever talks about that. And it is an issue for me because I still pay hefty taxes in the US.

(One more thing. Two years ago, I cut my hand. I was assembling furniture and the nails were sticking up. It was -- and I am an engineer -- a clear design flaw. One week later I had red streaks running up my arm. I was in the hospital with IV antibiotics for one day. All paid... BUT!!! BUT!!! There was no structure or vehicle for me to sue the designers of the furniture. And the lawsuits in the US is one reason for the medical fees -- and I do NOT mean that in a disparaging way. The lawsuits and the medical industry check each other. You cannot simply swap out the good of Norway without seeing how it all fits together. Yes, I like it here. But that is me. And I will never relinquish my US citizenship and have told my wife that I am to be buried in the Bronx.)

(In fact, one more thing. When my son was born, he was born with a right coronary fistula. This is an EXTRA artery that returns blood from the heart back into the body -- effectively stealing the blood from the extremities. So the heart must pump harder that turns it into a bigger muscle. But that pressure opens the artery more. THIS is what causes those athletes to drop dead at the age of 20: their hearts are one massive muscle. In our case, a hospital system in fear of lawsuits subjected the little guy to so many tests in those first two days of his life. It was fear of lawsuits. They found it. He had heart surgery at 7 weeks. He is now 11 and very healthy. I can honestly say: this would not have happened here in Norway. And Obama has fucked up the American health care system: he swapped out one piece of an integrated system that worked because he was enamored of only the good part of Norway without seeing the whole -- incidentally, many here in Norway now regret awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize... MANY.)

I love Norway -- don't get me wrong. But I love the US more. But my wife wants to be here and I love her most of all.

(And look closely at Sweden, Finland, Denmark: there are reasons paid family leave works here. And there are prices they pay for it.)

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Submitted by ThomasI on Fri, 2015-06-19 05:52

I always appreciate your insight Thomas, as to why socialism works so well in Norway, but would not work as well here.

So *who pays*, is the most important question in all of this discussion about paid leave, IMO. And if USA corporations have to pay, how can we compete with oversea markets which will have cheaper products/cheaper labor? If taxpayers have to pay, taxes will get ridiculously high, and is it fair to say that poor people have more kids than rich people? What about immigrants. etc? I see this as a form of welfare which is already out of hand.

...and I am glad your son is doing well. My sister is a cardiac nurse practitioner (she has a master's degree, plus one more year) and although she might be biased, she insists that the USA is where anyone with a heart condition needs to be -as we are the best. I have to agree that the United States has the best healthcare but it is going down fast with Obama at the helm.

Here's a good article on the USA slipping in healthcare due to taxes and politics: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gracemarieturner/2012/05/23/though-the-u-s-is-healthcares-world-leader-its-innovative-culture-is-threatened/

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Submitted by Kris on Fri, 2015-06-19 06:48