That said, good parental leave benefits are great for a different reason: very young children are a pain in the ass to take care of, which means that daycare providers charge a lot more until they're older.
USA has 33 times the population of Sweden so if it was solely a product of a political system I would expect at least one other "Silicon Valley".
Considering that the distance between the East Coast and the West Coast is the same as the distance between Sweden and Egypt, I assume a second "Silicon Valley" would be viable.
But that was not my point. My point was how low the barrier for "great benefits" where even for "spoiled" software engineers in Silicon Valley. Why not try to move the goal post a bit further?
Maybe something like the government covering 70% of the your away pay (capped, obviously), and giving the company 15% to go toward to whatever they chose (covering you more, hiring a temp, the bottom line, etc.) The size of the company could also be a factor on how large that payment is (the smaller the company, the larger the percentage).
This cannot be overstated. The first few moments/hours/days/weeks/months of your child's life (especially your first) are insanely awesome/frightening/joyous/exciting/sleep-depriving/stressful/fun/inspiring/just-freaking-cool.
It's not an experience I would want to miss for any reason. I'll probably never understand people who go back to work after a week or two.
No way. "Just" had baby, parents are barely surviving, often depressed. Cherish comes months later.
I think my wife only vaguely remembers the first three months.
With 100% (ish) pay you get 47 weeks total, with 80% you get 57 weeks. 9 weeks are reserved for the mother and 14 weeks (or it might be 12) are reserved for the father.
http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/pregnancy.... http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/types/maternity_parent...
Basically, in Ontario, mothers are eligible for 17 weeks of pregnancy leave. After giving birth, both parents are eligible for up to 37 weeks of parental leave.
This time is unpaid, but has no impact on your benefits, length of employment, seniority, etc. Many companies do pay for this time off, especially since the government employment insurance program will help if your weekly income drops below 40%.
The money helps significantly, but for me, it's more about the time. These are important and formative weeks during your child and family's development. A couple of my friends just had a baby, and I can see how much they cherish every moment they spend with him.
I won't be worrying about these kinds of benefits for a few more years, but it's still something that I view as important.