French maternity leave, seen by four foreign mothers

Originally published in June 2022

Few borders separate us, yet there are great differences. In a video Welcome to the junglefour women, all mothers of children born in France, talk about the differences in duration and social perception of maternity leave with the Poland, Morocco, the United States and Germany.

Maternity leave is not the same everywhere

In this video, we learn about the differences in the length of maternity leave, depending on the country. 12 months paid at 100% in Poland, 6 weeks whose financing must be negotiated with the employer for the United States, 12 months paid at 65% in Germany and 14 weeks consumed at 100% in Morocco which is close to the French model and her 16 weeks.

But aside from the length of the leave, these are social perceptions by country which are interesting. For example, in the United States, maternity leave begins at the birth of the baby and is negotiated in advance with the employer. Furthermore, it is “well regarded” that the leave is short, and thisa woman congratulates herself on returning to work just two weeks after giving birth For instance. For society, a woman who quickly returns to the office after giving birth is a “strong” woman.

On the other hand, in Germany, for example, a woman can be judged if he gets back to work too quickly, or if you are not staying with your child during the 12 months of maternity leave. Those women who do not dare to stay at home with their child can be called ” Rabenmutter Which can be translated as “raven mother”, the equivalent of our “unworthy mother” in French.

In Poland, maternity leave is often extended and it is normal for pregnant women to leave before the official leave date, around the 6th or 7th month. In Morocco, the the pregnant woman is considered sacred and maternity leave is an expected time.

Maternity and brotherhood leave

An interesting point that is raised in this video is the perception of society of mothers who choose to stay at home and take care of their child. For these foreign mothers who had a child in France, they note that stay-at-home mothers are frowned upon. Considered non-feministsome of them may have received reflections such as “” or ” how can you not work? », Relegating the housewife mother to the margins of society, considered unprofessional.

Yet anyone who has ever worked as a babysitter knows it’s a full time job and stay-at-home moms are far, far away from spinning their thumbs all day, especially during maternity or parental leave, which only has a name leave. .

With a similar look at mothers who want to keep their child longer, how can we get people to accept that maternity leave should be extended in France? According to a study conducted in 2006 by the Department of Studies of the Ministry of Health 84% of French mothers would like maternity leave to last longer. But with such a topical judgment of those who fumble how can they not return to work too quickly, is it really possible?

And if paternity leave were to last longer, would these questions arise as well? Can mentalities adapt? Can mothers stop being judged for their choice? We’re not out of the sand yet, huh.