Boo! Hiss!

Another less than ideal benefits meeting at work. Time off benefits will be reduced in the next 2 years. And if I go part-time, as I was planning, I may have no holidays off. Even in winter, when a farmer doesn't have quite as much to do on Christmas day as they may during the growing season. But I may still have to go in, or take off and not get paid. Hmmm....

I'm so overwhelmed by all the changes that are going to happen. New baby, change to part-time status, changes in benefits that my employer is enacting. Again, may I say, it is not easy to decide what to do when you're starting a family. Gerard and I both have been working full-time, yet we understand the importance of being with and breastfeeding baby in the early months/years! and want to experience that and enjoy it fully. How to balance these financial needs with new family needs?

And what's the deal with the U.S. apparently being totally behind the times when it comes to paid maternity/paternity leave when compared with industrialized (and some non-industrialized) countries worldwide, in regards to both pay, and duration of time off? A 2010 NPR factoid states that the U.S. is the only industrialized nation that doesn't offer paid leave for parents of newborns, which can lead many new parents into poverty or cause many women to quit their jobs. See other links below.

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave
http://20somethingfinance.com/american-paternity-maternity-leave/