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On Tuesday, August 4th, Neflix announced on their blog that they would begin offering new parents a progressive parental leave policy:
...Today we're introducing an unlimited leave policy for new moms and dads that allows them to take off as much time as they want during the first year after a child's birth or adoption.
The Boston Globe picked up the story earlier today and compared Netflix's new policy to Google's, which offers 18 weeks of paid maternity leave and 12 weeks of "baby bonding" time. The Boston Globe also notes:
The US and Papua New Guinea are the only countries among 185 nations and territories that hadn't imposed government-mandated laws requiring employers to pay mothers while on leave with their babies, according to a study released last year by the United Nations' International Labor Organization.
This new policy "covers all of the roughly 2,000 people working at [Netflix's] Internet video and DVD-by-mail services, according to the Los Gatos, California, company."
However, not all media voices are pleased with this change. Suzanne Venker, author of the recent book The Two-Income Trap: Why Parents Are Choosing To Stay Home, writes for Time :
Offering new parents full pay for up to one year is akin to putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. The needs of children are huge, and they do not end at one year. On the contrary, they just begin. Taking a year off of work to meet those needs merely scratches the surface.
What does Soylent think? Should companies offer new parents lengthy paid leave after they bring a new bundle of joy into the world, or do generous policies do more harm than good?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by jdavidb on Thursday August 06 2015, @05:51PM
To me this is taking an issue of several dimensions and flattening it out to make it overly simple.
Of course children need more from their parents than just care for the first year. It does not follow from that that Netflix or anyone else must bear the burden of subsidizing these parents to spend all their time with their children. If Netflix wants to be generous and give their employees this gift when they are parents, then that is wonderful. I can't believe that the response to that would be to condemn them for not being more generous.
I have seven children with another on the way. I've taken two weeks off of work when each child was born. I would certainly love to take more. Heck, if somebody would just pay for all my needs while I sit around and raise my children for eighteen years, that would be wonderful. But in the end it is up to me to provide for myself and my family. I don't deserve to live my dream at the expense of anybody else.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 1) by jdavidb on Thursday August 06 2015, @05:54PM
Should companies offer new parents lengthy paid leave after they bring a new bundle of joy into the world, or do generous policies do more harm than good?
These two questions don't go together. People can be as generous as they choose to be, and they should decide for themselves if they are harming themselves or others by their generosity. If Netflix can really afford this kind of generosity or more, more power to them. Maybe I should look into changing employers.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday August 06 2015, @07:02PM
You are oversimplifying things too.
Consider Finland, which has been consistently one of the top educational systems in the world. Both parents are required to take at least 4 months off of work, and then there's an additional 4 months which the parents can split however they choose. In addition, new parents are sent home from the hospital with books to read and information on how to care for their child as well as access to somebody employed by the government who can stop over and provide advice and assistance. The goal is to have a healthy well-cared-for infant, so that by the time the child enrolls in the day care/early childhood system (not mandatory, but almost everybody does, in part because that's at least partially paid for by taxes) they are already doing much better than their more-neglected American counterparts.
Regardless of whether you deserve to have more time with your child, the point there is that your children deserve the best care you can give them, and it's silly that America as a society is too cheap to help you manage. The result is that your kids are not quite as smart as they could have been (that isn't to say you have bad kids, but that they might have done better with more of your time and attention early on in life).
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2015, @08:11PM
Consider Finland, which has been consistently one of the top educational systems in the world.
Since all of the educational systems in the world are abysmal, that isn't saying much. Sure, being better than garbage is a start, but it's not good enough. One-size-fits-all rote memorization 'education' designed to create factory workers has to go. But it is cheaper, easier, and creates more subservient citizens, so it's unlikely it will vanish in the near future.
Also, they determine this based on extremely flawed standardized tests (such as simplistic multiple choice tests), not anything that truly tests understanding of the material.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Friday August 07 2015, @12:22AM
and it's silly that America as a society is too cheap to help you manage
That's just not how I think. I don't expect "America" (which is an abstract entity to which I hold little attachment) to give me or owe me anything.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by penguinoid on Friday August 07 2015, @04:08AM
You don't expect your government to give you protection against hostile nations?
RIP Slashdot. Killed by greedy bastards.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by jdavidb on Friday August 07 2015, @12:43PM
You don't expect your government to give you protection against hostile nations?
The most hostile nation I know is my government.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday August 07 2015, @01:51PM
See, I believe the US government owes me the rights and privileges protected in the Constitution, and beyond that owes me the policies decided upon by the majority of the population as a whole as represented by the folks in Congress. Now, I'm OK with the idea that the majority of population holding different opinions than I do, but the deal in the US government going back to James Madison et al was supposed to be "the population pays taxes, the population decides what we're going to do."
As far as how little your attachment is, as somebody with what seems like a libertarian outlook you surely are well aware of the fact that you pay a significant percentage of your income into the US treasury. That certainly qualifies as an attachment to me, and makes me think you'd prefer to get your money's worth.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.