What is Occupy Wallstreet?

[eppie]

First... I don't believe in measuring a country by the size of their handouts. There should be a social safety net sufficient to prevent people from suffering, and anything more is gratuitous. In the US, the federal FMLA allows for a minimum protection of 12 weeks leave, and most companies have some policy about how they pay during that period. But, in the US, paid leave is at the discretion of the companies paid benefits. We don't get a leave check from the government for having a child. Personally, my wife and I planned for it, and saved up for about 5 years before she gave birth. She took off 3 months (1/2 of it was paid) then worked three 10 hour days for a year with the first one, and quit work for 5 years for the second one. I took off a month for both (1/2 was vacation time).

Kandrathe, it is easy to whisk away this argument by talking about 'handouts'. Just like they are some nice thing that you give people so they can remain being the hypocrytical lazy commies they are.

We get longer child benefits because we believe in equality (for real, so not like in the US only on paper and in campaign speeches).
Women and men are given the chance to take enough leave and share it as equal as they can so that women don't have to throw away their career (and now I am sure you are coming up with the example of your wife who after 5 years of leave continued her brilliant career but please don't have this discussion as a list of examples of people you or I know).
Women can take enough leave so that they don't have to breastfeed their baby's when they are back at work already. Parents don't have to be scared to take a day off to take care of their sick child (we have a more or less unlimited number of those days (paid) .

Here family is more important than the chance that one person pays a bit more tax and gets a bit less benefits for it as another.

And to add to that; the descretion of the comapanies to give leave......I am sure cleaning companies and wall-mart have the same impressive leave package as has exxon or Procter and Gamble. Or not?