THE EDITOR, Sir:
AFTER READING your editorial in The Sunday Gleaner regarding maternity and paternity leave, it dawned on me how extremely oblivious we are in Jamaica to the reality of our situation in this increasingly impoverished country. It is almost as if those who rule us have no idea as to how difficult it is to run any sort of business in this country. You sort of get the feeling that our political leaders feel that they only have to snap their fingers for money to flow from employers' pockets.
No one can argue that maternity and perhaps even paternity leave are desirable in a modern society. The question should be, "Who pays?". In our great neighbour to the North, there is no such thing as paid maternity leave. International Labour Organisation statistics show maternity leave benefits around the world. It shows that in the Americas, Jamaica and Haiti (surprise, surprise) are the only two nations where the employer is expected to magically find ready cash to pay for maternity leave, even if half the company gets pregnant at the same time.
Most other countries fund maternity benefits out of some form of social security or insurance. If you have another look at the list and compare Africa to Europe, you will see here again that our impoverished brothers and sisters in Africa are also in the habit of waving wands to put money in the hands of employers so that they can pay maternity benefits. On the other hand, the wealthy Europeans with their billion-dollar companies are generally paid maternity leave from government social funds.
Maternity leave is a great idea and so would paternity leave be if we could figure out who the fathers were. However, those in authority should recognise that it is unbelievably stupid to continue a system of social welfare which is mandated by government and paid for by employers no matter how poor or insolvent these employers are. It is 2003. It is time to start thinking.
I am, etc.,
GRAHAM BROWN
jagabbag@yahoo.com
Kingston
Via Go-Jamaica
