In a move that proves Thailand sometimes manages to be ahead of some so-called developed countries, the Thai Cabinet today approved 15 days paid paternity leave for fathers of newborn babies. This so that some Thai fathers can take time off work to take care of the mother and newborn child without losing money while doing it.
I’ve actually always been surprised the United States doesn’t have paid paternity leave for fathers, as many European countries do. Now that Thailand does, it puts the US back in the “worse than a developing country” in yet another issue — funny and quite fascinating actually.
In fact, the United States is even worse than many people think when it comes to parents having children and being given paid leave. There isn’t even a mandatory statute in place for mothers to get paid maternity leave in the United States, so in many states an employer is well within their rights to not pay, if they don’t want to. And some don’t. In Thailand, on the other hand, women get 90 days maternity leave, which is 100 percent paid for the first 45 days, and then 50 percent paid for the last 45 days. Not bad for a developing country, is it?
As far as Thailand’s new paternity leave goes, the 15-day paid leave paternity law won’t apply to private businesses, only to state officials and employees but, at least it’s a good start.
