Here is a fresh example of why superficial comparisons between different countries conducted by people who have no understanding of the cultural realities they are discussing are useless.
“Is it true that the maternity leave in your country is 3 years? Wow, that is so enlightened! Why can’t we be as civilized in this country?” a colleague exclaimed.
So I had to explain that our “enlightened and civilized” maternity leave was only paid for 1/2 of its duration and the payments were so tiny that nobody could really live on them. Let alone live on them with dignity. Anybody in the US can easily have this kind of maternity leave. All you need to do is quit your job and go on food stamps.
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