Maternity Leave
These posts are from my Mat Leave Monday series, which discusses maternity and parental leave in Canada and around the world. If you like this, you should also check out my super-cool Quick Guide to Canadian Maternity Leave, updated for 2010!
Maternity Leave, Adieu
Today is Monday, and I have decided to re-visit Mat Leave Monday for old time’s sake, and because I have an announcement to make. Service Canada has announced the new maximum insurable earnings for Employment Insurance (EI) for 2011. This is the maximum level of earnings that you pay EI premiums on. And since maternity [...]
Parental Leave and Twins (or More)
Today I am bringing back Mat Leave Monday to talk about parental leave and parents of multiples in Canada. I have two children myself, but they were born 3 1/2 years apart. Parents of twins (or more) have my total respect – I can only imagine what it would be like to have more than [...]
Bellies to Babies Celebration
I am very excited to say that I am going to be speaking at the Bellies to Babies Celebration in Vancouver! I am going to talk about maternity leave, which is one of my passions. I love talking about maternity leave. Maybe a little bit too much, but in this context it works so I’m [...]
Maternity Leave in Maple Ridge
Guess what! I have my first public appearance. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited this makes me. I am going to speaking about my passion, maternity leave, at the fabulous maternity and baby boutique Tiny Fingers Tiny Toes in Maple Ridge, BC. I love talking about maternity leave. In fact, if you [...]
Maternity Leave Eligibility for the Self-Employed
Today I am revisiting Mat Leave Monday, because I have some very important information to share. If you are a self-employed Canadian who would like to be eligible for maternity or parental benefits, then you need to act now to opt into the EI system. (Note – If you live in Quebec you are already [...]
Updated Canadian Maternity Leave Guide
Today I am revisiting Mat Leave Monday, because I have updated my super-cool and totally fun Quick Guide to Canadian Maternity Leave for 2010. In case you aren’t familiar with it, I ran a series of posts about maternity leave every Monday while I was on my last maternity leave. I enjoyed it immensely, and [...]
Maternity Leave for the Self-Employed Announced
Today I am re-visiting Mat Leave Monday, because there was a major announcement last week that affects maternity leave in Canada. On November 3, the federal Conservatives introduced The Fairness for the Self-Employed Act, which extends special benefits provided through the Employment Insurance (EI) system to the self-employed. These special benefits include sickness benefits, compassionate [...]
Canadian Parental Leave and Multiples
It’s Thursday, so I’m Crafting my Life! Today I’m talking about possibly the biggest challenges any parent faces when trying to find balance, which occurs with multiple births. I have the utmost respect for parents of twins or more. I think that anyone who’s cared for one baby can appreciate how much work must go [...]
Guide to Canadian Maternity Leave
It’s Mat Leave Monday! I know that I promised I was totally done with that, but I’m re-visiting it this week. After all, this is my blog and so I reserve the right to make the rules up as I go along. I’m totally fun that way. Totally. The reason that I’m re-visiting Mat Leave [...]
Isolation and Togetherness: Susan and Rebecca
Today is the last day of my Carnival of Maternity Leave! I have two more stories to share with you, sharing two very different experiences of being home with a new baby. They show us how maternity leave can be very isolating, or it can be a time of togetherness for a family. Susan is [...]
Making the Most of Maternity Leave: Tracey and Missy
Those early days at home with a baby may occasionally feel interminable, but the reality is that they are very brief. As experienced parents will tell you it’s good to try to enjoy them while they last, because they will be over before you know it. And you will actually miss them when they’re gone. [...]
Battling Bureaucracy: Nicole, Annie and Stefanie
I’ve talked at length about why I think maternity leave and parental leave are so important. And they really are. Government programs that allow parents to spend the early days and months with their children are tremendously valuable. The problem, though, is that as soon as you get the government involved bureaucracy inevitably follows. The [...]
Changing Gears After Maternity Leave: Melissa and Melodie
Having a baby is life-changing, but not always in the way we expect. Sure, we know that there will be sleepless nights and diaper changes and so much love it hurts. But for a lot of moms the arrival of a new baby also means that they re-think their careers or their lifestyles in other [...]
Maternity Leave in Canada by the Numbers
Today is the very last Mat Leave Monday. Can you believe it? I can’t. I have spent months talking about how maternity leave works, what it’s like around the world, and why it matters. Along the way I have gathered some fun statistics and I thought I would take the chance to share them with [...]
The Maternity Leave Experience: Tracey and Brie
Having your first baby is a huge transition. One day you are childless, you work full-time and sleep in on the weekend. Then the next you are a parent, spending your days with a completely dependent infant. In my case it was literally the next day, since I went to work on Friday and then [...]
Returning to Work: Heather, Brie and Carrie
The inevitable truth of maternity leave is that it ends. Whether you resume your position in the working world or not, you are not going to able to collect benefits forever. Today I am highlighting posts about returning to work for the Carnival of Maternity Leave. Heather found starting her 10-month-old in daycare to be [...]
Maternity Leave and Breastfeeding
I know that we’re all very excited about the Carnival of Maternity Leave. I wanted to share something of my own today, since August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week. This year’s theme is ‘Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response‘. Anyone who saw the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina play out, when formula wasn’t getting through and there [...]
The Best and Worst of Maternity Leave: Brie and Lara
Today I am highlighting two more blog posts for the Carnival of Maternity Leave. I feel that they provide a handy sort of compare and contrast in terms of the best and worst of maternity and parental leave in Canada. First up we have Brie, who provides us with the ‘best’ part of our little [...]
Victoria, Jill and Jennifer Share Maternity Leave Stories
One of the biggest reasons I had for running this carnival was to hear other peoples’ stories. So far I’m loving all the ones I’ve read, and today I am going to share three with you. Each one highlights different aspects of maternity leave, and each one is a great read. First up my friend [...]
Welcome to the Carnival of Maternity Leave
Welcome to the Carnival of Maternity Leave! From now until August 15 I will be featuring contributions from other bloggers about maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave and adoption leave. The carnival announcement details how to participate, but basically I’m looking for you to write a post sometime before August 10 and send me a [...]
Returning from Maternity Leave
It’s Mat Leave Monday! Today I’m going to talk about planning your return to work once your maternity leave is over. This would be the time I would be making my plans if I were going back. Plus I did go back after Hannah was born. So I feel like I can offer a few [...]
Maternity Leave Around the World
It’s Mat Leave Monday! Over the course of almost a year I have researched maternity leave in 13 countries and 1 Canadian province. I have learned a lot about maternity leave and how it works. Today I am going to summarize all that I have learned about maternity leave in one handy little blog post. [...]
Announcing the Carnival of Maternity Leave
It’s Mat Leave Monday! Today I’m going to put a call out to everyone else to share your maternity leave stories with me. I’ve been talking about myself and my own maternity leave for months, I’m sure it’s wearing a little thin. So let’s see if we can get some other people involved. To that [...]
Maternity Leave in France
It’s Mat Leave Monday! Today I am talking about maternity leave in France. As always I have no first hand knowledge, so if you want to know more you can check out this very comprehensive guide to Parental Leave in France, the BBC’s comparison of benefits in France in the UK, a summary of the [...]
Maternity Leave Manifesto
It’s Mat Leave Monday! I’ve spent a lot of time researching maternity leave in the past few months. During that time, I’ve formed some opinions as to what ‘great’ maternity leave looks like. What features are helpful in getting families off to the best start possible. Here is what I think all maternity leave plans [...]
Maternity Leave in India
It’s Mat Leave Monday! Today I am talking about maternity leave in India. I have no first-hand experience, so if you would like more detailed information you can read the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961 and its 2008 amendment, a summary of Maternity Law in India, this article from Seasons, or information on Central Government [...]
Don’t Leave Us!
It’s Mat Leave Monday! Throughout this series I’ve talked about how maternity leave works, why it’s very important, and how moms might spend their time on maternity leave. I’ve talked about planning your leave, and finding childcare when you return. But I haven’t talked about how maternity leave is viewed in the workplace. Ideally, having [...]
EI Reform and Maternity Leave
It’s Mat Leave Monday! Here in Canada Employment Insurance (EI) reform is a hot topic. I hear it’s going to bring down the government and force an election. Since maternity and parental benefits are administered through the EI system, I thought the reforms might affect mat leave. Today I’m going to examine EI reform and [...]
Maternity Leave in Germany
It’s Mat Leave Monday! Today I’ll be talking about maternity leave in Germany. I have heard that they get up to three years leave with each child, so I was very interested to learn more myself. As always, I have no first-hand experience with German maternity leave. If you would like to find more information [...]
Paid Maternity Leave in Australia
I’m participating in the Carnival of Breastfeeding today. The theme is ‘Stories’, and you can find my own contribution and links to lots of other great breastfeeding posts. After you read all about the introduction of paid maternity leave in Australia, go check it out! At present, Australia doesn’t have any type of paid maternity [...]
