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Page 1 of 1266 Work/Life Policies in the United States, France, and Sweden Americans are generally quite skeptical of welfare, which many associate with programs for the poor, the needy, the downtrodden. And who likes poverty? Who wants to rally around downtrodden-ness? Not this guy!
It need not be like this, folks. Welfare can be for everyone. Some welfare programs, like Social Security, already are (and good thing, too, because I don’t want to be sending out resumes at age 80). Not to get all sappy on you, but welfare is about increasing the well-being of society — and that’s a good thing. So put away your frayed and thinning wallet and let’s go window shopping for welfare! First Stop: Main St., USA The U.S. is like the Wal Mart of work and family policies. The rich people don’t shop there (or even know that they sell clothes) and the people that do are leaving with a bunch of crap that’s going to fall apart in a few washes: - Universal health care: No.
- Paid parental leave: No.
- Instead, workers are entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they work for a company with 50 or more employees. Many other restrictions apply.
- Paid sick leave: No.
- Guaranteed paid vacation: No.
- On average, full-time workers in medium-to-large companies receive 9.6 days of paid vacation after one year of employment and 13.8 days after five years.
- Public day care and/or preschool: No.
If U.S. work and family policies were an outfit, Tim Gunn would not be pleased.
France If the U.S. is the Wal Mart of work and family policies, France is Chanel — elegant, a bit traditional, and every woman’s dream. Many have argued that France’s generous family policies are meant to sweeten the deal for women to have kids, making it easier for them to combine work and family life. Though men aren’t top priority when it comes to parental leave, they benefit from a host of more universal working policies — much like men benefit from being around a bunch of women wearing Chanel:
- Universal health care: Yes.
- Paid Parental Leave: Yes.
- Women are entitled to 16 weeks of paid maternity benefits at 100 percent of earnings up to a ceiling of $2,589 Euros (US $3,245.40) a month. All employees and even the self-employed are eligible for these benefits.
- Men don’t fare as well: they are only entitled to 2 weeks of paternity leave (at 100% of earnings up to the same ceiling).
- All employees who have worked at least one year before the birth of a child (either parent, but not both) can take time off until the child reaches the age of three (this benefit is a flat rate payment of $513 euros (US$643) per month for families whose income is below a certain level. Families that earn above that level, about 10 percent of the population, are still eligible for time off but without government pay.
- Tax relief: Yes.
- For child care expenses and a family allowance.
- Public day care and/or preschool: Yes.
- Approximately 25 percent of children under the age of three attend day care centers (crèche) and a 95 percent of children ages three to six attend public preschools (école maternelle).
- Preschool is completely free, while parents bear 25 percent of day care costs.
- Both are considered extremely high quality. The downside is long waiting lists for spaces, especially in Paris.
- Paid vacation: Yes.
- Workers are entitled to 2.5 working days of leave for each month worked, once they have worked at least 1 month. This amounts to five weeks of leave a year.
Sweden  We have reached the shopping equivalent of Gucci — couture both men and women want. - Universal health care: Yes.
- Paid parental leave: Yes.
- Swedish parents are entitled to 16 months of parental leave, which can be split between the man and the woman as they wish, except for the “daddy month,” which is reserved strictly for the father and meant to encourage men to take parental leave.
- During this time, Swedes receive 85 percent of their income for the first 30 days, 75 percent for the next 210 days, and a flat rate starting on day 241.
- Parents are entitled to 120 days of paid leave to care for children under 12 at 75 percent of their salary.
- Tax relief: Yes.
- Universal non-taxable family allowance.
- Flexible Work Arrangments: Yes.
- Parents get the legal right to reduce the work day by 25 percent until the child is eight.
- Paid Vacation: Yes.
- At least 25 days (5 weeks) of paid vacation per year, including at least 4 weeks of continuous leave from June to August.
Sure, Chanel and Gucci are pricey (we’ll discuss next time), but do you really want to be stuck in Wal Mart garb for the rest of your life?
- Vetta "mumu pantsuit nightmare " by dscotthirsch on flickr.com under creative commons license. chanel photo from style.com.
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