comment: >
  
  Awesome, now let's expand that to everyone and put the military to work on domestic humanitarian projects instead of sending them abroad to do corporate imperialist dirty work.
context: Just for comparison:
  In Germany you get 12 month of paid maternal leave + 2 extra month of paid leave for your partner. You can stretch the time to 3 years but only 12+2 month are paid. However, the payment is limited to a round 1800€ per month.
  You also get additionally paid leave with full compensation for the mother around 6 weeks pre birth. >
  
  Once again, America does what's not even considered the barest minimum by the rest of the developed world's (and much of the undeveloped world's) standards, and calls it "progress".
  These are bread crumbs, and maybe not even that. For being the "greatest country in the world", we can do better. We deserve better. >
  
  Do we?
  I can think of lots of individuals that deserve better. Not so sure as a collective we deserve better though. >
  
  IMO, we, as Americans, are getting everything we deserve.  A majority support paid maternal leave but I guarantee you they'd call us communists or socialists if we went out into the streets and protested for it. >
  
  I joked with my wife once that I wanted to create and run on the "Parent Ticket" in my state and our platform would be:
  
  4 weeks unpaid paternity leave for all full time employment; 12 weeks unpaid maternity leave for all employment (obviously more is wanted, but crawl before ya walk and all that);
  Update codes to require changing tables in men's and women's bathrooms (I get around this now just going into the women's restroom if the men's room doesn't have one -- another fun one, now that where you poop has suddenly become a political issue);
  Legalize, with no restrictions, public breastfeeding; and
  Any outdoor events must provide and maintain a reasonable supply of 12oz bottles of water that can be purchased for $1 after tax, or less, or provide ready access to [some calculation] of functional water fountains.
  
  ​
  ​
  Funny that in Europe I think these positions would qualify me as the most far right candidate in decades, while I'd be strung up as a Marxist in the US. >
  
  Thanks, Democrats! >
  
  But I thought GOP were the ones who supported our troops? Interesting >
  
  And youth.  Gop is all for head start/pre-k/student food programs /s >
  
  Yeah they love fetuses, I’m sure that extends to childcare right? >
  
  Doubling the previous amount.
  Excellent progress. 
  I'm a father of 2 under 2, and I am so incredibly thankful for the time I got with them right after birth. 
  This is huge for serving members. >
  
  Double for the birthing parents, for the non birthing parent they used to only have 14 days so this is a 6x increase! They made a big deal about it when they expanded from 10 to 14 days. 
  This is a big deal for sure! >
  
  Non birthing parents would get 21 days. If you could make a case to your commander that you qualify as primary caregiver, you could get 42 days. Not sure where you got 14 days from… >
  
  It says right in the second paragraph of the article it’s for both parents?
  And the 14 days admittedly i got from when I was still in and took my 14 days in 2020, so the rules may have changed. >
  
  It is now, prior to that it was 42 for primary and 21 for secondary. >
  
  I got out of the army 6 years ago and i got 10 days for both my kids. 
  Thats real life. >
  
  Dang that’s crazy, sucks for you. Glad for everyone else going forward tho, right? >
  
  Oh yeah >
  
  Remember, my fellow Americans – if you want the same parental leave standards of other developed nations, all you need to do is fight, and potentially die. >
  
  I was always told of the military wanted you to have a kid they would have issued you one >
  
  TBF, I figure the military likes having kids born and raised in that system. I was. And lemme tell you how many of my classmates ended up IN the military (a vast majority). >
  
  The military is the socialism that no one else is America is allowed to have. >
  
  It's a Federal jobs program like any other, nothing more or less. And it's almost as if chaining paid parental leave policy to employers was just as asinine as chaining mere partial coverage for necessary health care to employers. >
  
  If only there were laws that made private employers comply with the bare minimum that government workers or military get. 
  Lucky me- I now get 15 days PTO after hitting my 7 year work anniversary. I had to take my own PTO when my kids were born, so I only took a week since I only had 10 days total back then. >
  
  Parental leave. Housing allowances. Abortion if you want one. Decent pensions. Free medical care. Who would have thought the armed forces would become the only non-wealthy Americans able to live decent and civilized lives like people in other prosperous countries live? >
  
  Reminds me of Starship Troopers. >
  
  Want to learn more? >
  
  I’m doing my part! >
  
  Why not make thst the standard for ALL residents of this country?  Just like how members of the military get to deduct moving expenses from their AGI, us normmies do not.
  If it is good for the goose, it is good for the gander. >
  
  As an active duty service member dad with a 10-week old, I’m so happy for this change. In my 12 years of service, I’ve always advocated there was not enough leave for either parent. I’m glad new parents going forward will be able to properly care for their newborns.
  For those who don’t know, prior to this change mothers received 8-weeks and fathers received 3 weeks (though that only recently changed in the last few years; dads used to only get 1 week).
  I have absolute empathy for single mothers. It was a struggle for my partner and I for those initial weeks, I can’t imagine what it would have been like for my partner if she was alone for the first month of our daughter’s life. >
  
  Heck, in the private industry, mothers have to take their earned PTO, plus FLMA, and fathers get Jack shit unless they take their own earned PTO as well. >
  
  Most of the rest of the government has gotten 12 weeks since the middle of last year or so, so it’s about time that it’s filtered to the military. 
  What’s nice is that the 12 weeks can be used at any time within the child’s first year of life. I’ve known quite a few dads who waited until mom’s time off ended and then used their 12 weeks to help keep the baby out of daycare longer. I assume it’s the same for the military. >
  
  I get two days bereavement when someone dies but my son is born and 0 days… fuck >
  
  Meanwhile, other countries like Finland I think get like a year....