Readers sound off on a recent thread:
One of your readers argues that adopting the “center-left fantasy” of a 35 hour work week would be beneficial for the economy, stating that it would “have the additional salutary effect of boosting the economy via increased consumption in off hours and of boosting employment (marginally?) as companies hire more workers to make up for lost time.” Your reader would be well advised to read up on the lump of labor fallacy, which illustrates why such a fantasy is just that.
Another:
I am a state employee in the Commonwealth of Virginia and I so often hear from friends and family their astonishment at the amount of paid time off I get. Well, some perspective: when my wife and I had our first child I had one week off. One week to spend with my new son who, due to several things happening together, had some severe weight gain issues. So here I am, a newborn struggling to nurse, a wife at the end of her rope and I’m lucky to get 32 hours paid time off?! It blows my mind when I hear about how other developed nations legally mandate (evil word!) six weeks or more of paternal leave and yet we have no, I repeat NO provision for fathers to have paid time off to help their partners in those first weeks after childbirth.
By the way, those 32 hours were not specifically designated for paternal leave. I had to use what is called “Family Personal” time, which I could have used to take more time around the holidays, as most state employees do. I am lucky enough to be a salaried employee; if I were wage, I would get nothing. Never mind the fact that I make less than $30,000/year.
Another:
There are a lot of lesser known benefits to being in the military. One of my favorite is 30 days leave a year. It accumulates at 2.5 days a month. But here’s the thing: no one takes advantage of it.
Naval regulations say that you cannot have more than 75 days of leave on the books (more if you deployed). I’m currently at 0 days leave, the result of having a wedding and honeymoon, but many of my coworkers constantly complain that that are at risk of losing leave.
Even when given the opportunity to take leave, many of my shipmates refuse. And they continue to refuse until they can’t not take vacation. The people who make a career of the Navy genuinely love it, love to work and it rubs off (less so on me). The culture in the commands I’ve worked at has been one of working long and hard. Many of the people I know in the civilian world are the same. I know many people would welcome more paid leave. But I’m curious how many people would take advantage of it?
The Dish 