Brett over at DadTalk just posted an interesting article about the ability of working dads to spend time with their children.

Of course, the paternity pay rate of $185 a week may be the problem, but it�s still better than in the United States where most American men are told to take vacation time or take it off without pay. I had to skip vacations for a few years to build up enough spare weeks for when my son Seth was born.

I had to take vacation time for both my kids as well. But starting July 1 this year, California became the first state in the nation to offer six weeks of paid family leave! Good news right? The catch is that the pay is only 55% of your regular pay or $728 a week, whichever prevents you from paying your mortgage the quickest. And it is funded by the state disability insurance (SDI) program, a premium (albeit a small one) removed from my salary whether I take the benefit or not.

While the prospect of taking up to six whole weeks to spend with my newborn is tempting, there’s no way I could afford to do it, even with this token “benefit.” So, it looks like if I’m going to have a third, I’ll have to take vacation again AND I’ll be out the SDI money for a benefit I can’t use.

Comments

1. brettdl on 2004-07-28 22:27:42 wrote: Oops, I didn’t know about the California law or forgot. I’ll have to update my site when I get back from vacation. Thanks John!

2. Thomas on 2006-11-27 05:33:49 wrote: Paternity leave is important - new mums need a lot of support after the arrival of baby, a couple needs some time in which to adjust to all the chasnges that a new baby will bring, and the additional work said baby creates will require two people to get it all sorted out, or one person who gets worked silly. It’s important that dads should have opportunity to get to know their baby and bond with it - very easy for dads to feel left out by the whole birth expereince, which is a great shame.