American reacts to European benefits that American's don't have
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- čas přidán 6. 04. 2024
- Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to AMAZING European Laws and Rights that American's don't have
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The thing with parental leave for both parents is not just about incentivizing having kids. It also discourages employers from choosing men over women in the hiring process. If only women are expected or even allowed to take maternity leave, it's a greater financial risk for the company to hire a woman. If both parents are expected to take leave, suddenly the "risk" is more equal and companies can be less afraid of hiring women (or equally afraid of hiring men, depends how you see it).
Exactly. That's the main reason.
And yet it's still not enough. Many managers will tell you they will hire a man over women if they don't know the particular woman won't want to get pregnant in the short to mid term. The leave a man get's is two weeks, at most, in the best circumstances. That's nothing compared to the time a women get's from their employers, even if things 'go well'. And if it's a difficult pregnancy, you can add months.
It's sad but it's true. And in a way also understandable, they will have to pay a worker who's not adding to their revenue, for a longer time compared with hiring men. That's a big risk, even in an economy where women wages are already structurally lower as those of equally qualified men.
@@MarvinWestmaas Did you read the text. A man has to take 96 days at least. Same as a woman. The remaining days can be devided as they see fit.
@@Mentholox I was commenting on the original post. Lots of different countries in Europe, lots of different rules.
@@MarvinWestmaas fair enough.
I was visiting the US this week, and I was speaking to my Uber driver (Nurse in pregnancy care) about the local laws. She told me that you have no right to abortion in that state and that she just had a case in which a baby was born without a head, but a functioning brain. It wasn't able to live, but there was no way to end the pregnancy. Hence, the baby was born, and the parents had to live through this experience, with having their baby born and then die within a few days. How's that humane? It's so horrible.
This is also often the case in europian countries. we have a lot of good laws and benefits but abortion laws are still pretty bad. If you find out you baby is terminal of has a horrible disease and has a high chance to die and be in pain. You have to give birth anyway if its older then 6 weeks. I remember there was this woman that did an interview on tv in the Netherlands and she was 7 weeks pregnant, and they found out her baby had a bone disease making her babies bones break with every movement, the baby could feel pain, she was not allowed abortion.
Couldnt they just get abortion in the next State?
@@Rcb0 they did, they went to switzerland to get an abortion.
@@msalisha145 What? The Netherlands Europe? Where you can get free abortion until 24th week? When was this tale of the woman you speek of? 1970?
@msalisha145 you can do it here until I believe 2 months orso into pregnancy its just the pill version that doesn't help beyond a week or two. Perhaps religion said she was not allowed unless it was in like 70,s
Putting a charge on plastic bags (also in Belgium and The Netherlands) is not intended to add to your shopping expenses but more to motivate people to bring their own re-usable bags !!
in UK it was used as a stealth tax to save the environment.. which is hilarious now seen as uk has replaced plastic bags with paper bags.. yet paper bags are twice the cost ..... saving the environment is only making rich people richer due to these cons
int he UK we are eagerly awaiting our next tax (the uk has taxes for almost everything) i'm thinking breathing oxygen tax lmao
@@paulmilner8452 Ye just taake your own bag and you save a bit of money and less impact on environment
@@Koen030NL yes if only life was that simple ... when i go to work i don't bring a bag yet at work i might suddenly need or crave a food from supermarket and whilst there i will buy more goods ...... meaning i need another bag .... this is paper bags btw nothing to do with environment on plastic which was what was meant to be charged for ..... like i said another britsh con paper is biodegradable ..... supermarkets should provide bags for free like they used to do, the added cost is for profit not environment
@@paulmilner8452 Well, start taking a bag or backpack with you. And there are other bags (thats are not meant to be thrown away) that you can buy and re use that one. Its not that difficult. I hardly go out of the house without my backpack because of this reason. Its also convenient to always have a umbrella, sunglasses or powerbank with you.
I live in southern Germany. Two years ago, I travelled to Switzerland with my best friend and her husband to say goodbye to her. She was suffering from terminal ALS and was allowed to fall asleep peacefully instead of suffocating in agony.
She was demonstrably ill and required evidence from several doctors, including a psychotherapist. I think that's standard. You can't just travel to Switzerland and say "Here I am and I would like to die."
A friend of my mom's also took advantage of it, she had terminal cancer, she suffered for many years, had dozen surgeries and despite medication suffered from excruciating pain. I believe there are associations in Switzerland that go down this path under very strict conditions. Unfortunately, my mother wasn't able to say goodbye in person, but an online meeting was held accompanied by a psychologist to say goodbye, my mom felt that this way of saying goodbye was planned and carried out with great dignity.
Yea, I'm from UK.
Our rules are quite extreme, It is illegal to assist a suicide, to the extent of travelling with a friend or relative to a Swiss clinic can be considered as assisting a suicide.
It is so strange that as a nation of animal lovers we consider it a kindness to put an animal out of its misery. But to travel with a person would be breaking the law. I understand people have mixed feelings about allowing assisted suicide in the country, it is a big conversation. But this law is too extreme. Thankfully I have never been in the position of someone I love needing to make the decision to go.
@@stephenlee5929My Aunt had a No Resuscitation order, having suffered with mild strokes for many years, never actually had a heart attack,her mother died in Australia having open heart surgery, so it was on the cards that my she would have
the same problem. She was in her 80s when she had an heart attack. They honoured her wish.RIP.
@stephenlee5929 In my book that's a human right violation. Is the UK still subject to the European Human Rights Court, following Brexit?
"Dads get a paid leave?" Shouldn't this be a basic thing everywhere?
Have in Spain 🇪🇸🇪🇺
We do in the uk too
I think for USAmericans it's "bad socialism"
Why would US people be in the streets for a charge on plastic bags but not for the safety of their children? Pretty messed up values. 😢
well to be fair there are some people in the streets about that (I've been!) and I don't think they would be in the streets about plastic bags they would throw a fit on Facebook and tikytoky LOL I was exaggerating a bit but I do think people would be upset
Wtf, of course plastic bags cost.
But I use them many times.
Greetings From Finland.
P. S. I GOT PAID FOR 3 YEARS AFTER EVERY CHILD. And stayed home. 🎉🎉🎉🎉
@@ryanwuzerIn Ireland they introduced a fee for single use plastic bags even earlier than the UK did. People had no problem with it, recognising that it's better for the environment. Instead people go to supermarkets with their " for life" bags and reuse them again and again. Maybe USAians need education on the danger of plastics to the planet.
Americans😂😂😂😂
@@annedunne4526 Same as in Italy. It's been like that for years and I don't remember of people rioting in the streets..
My daughter and son-in-law's are expecting their first baby here in the UK 🇬🇧 My daughter gets generous maternity leave, but what blew my mind is that her husband gets 18 weeks of paternity leave at full pay which he can take as one block or use in smaller blocks during the first year of the child's life + his usual 6 weeks of holiday leave at full pay. I am delighted things have improved since I was a new dad 34 years ago.
In France, they have a law so that supermarkets cannot throw away food (which is a great law) and, as a comparison, in 2022 a woman in Arizona was arrested for feeding homeless people
Americans😂😂😂😂😂
Oh you know the French government is not very concerned about the well-being of its homeless people. I'm going to teach you something particularly cynical that's happening right now. In anticipation of the Paris Olympics, neither the city of Paris nor the french government want tourists to see the true number of homeless and drug addicts in Paris. So what do they do? Find solutions and spend money to reduce the problem? No, they took over 3,500 homeless people and relocated them to the streets of another city 150km away (the mayor of this city is furious)!
I expct that makes a lot of people get sick from bad / old food... it's weird
The reason supermarkets don't give away expired food is because they would be legally liable for any person who gets food poisoning from it. Coincidentally the "Use by date" is the legal period during which the responsibility lies with the producer and not the re-seller.
Just to confirm: Trains inside Luxembourg (the country) are also completely free and counted as a "public transport" on top of buses and tram (one single line). Commuters from neighbouring countries (France, Germany, Belgium) benefit from this as well as they now only have to pay the portion from their place of residence to the border, then it's free for them as well inside Luxembourg. Don't have to be a citizen of Luxembourg either, or even a resident. This means it's free for tourists as well.
It also really just makes sense tbh. I saw somebody do the maths for Berlin at least and overall it would just be cheaper to make it free than maintaining all the infrastructure to sell and check tickets.
The most striking thing about all these things is that none of them provide a short-term profit.
And that is why they are totally out of the question to introduce in the USA!!!
Ah ah ah , good one
26 weeks paid maternity leave in Australia, no plastic bags allowed, unwanted foods from supermarkets and restaurants are collected by charities and disbursed among the needy or cooked in local cut price, or free, cafes! More states are allowing assisted suicide, but conditions must be terminal! Organ donation options are voluntary, blood donation also! Public transport is cheap, clean, frequent and highly subsidised for the public's needs!
Dont forget your healthcare which is pretty great and universal. I dont know about cost but its certainly cheaper than america.
@@sunseeker9581
Aussie here, senior, ok I’m old lol. Fractured my ankle. Free Ambo to hospital. Free X-ray. Had to wait in bed in private room with a tv. Got free Moon Boot - cost me , oh yeah nothing, was all free😊
@@bernadettelanders7306 Also in NZ. Get injured playing sport in the weekend and not only is all medical care free, but 80% of your wages are paid until you get better. The employer is encouraged to make up the other 20%.
Free healthcare. Prescriptions were $5 an item regardless of cost but last year the Govt took that off so all prescriptions are now free.
A couple of years ago I felt sick on the way to work, went to see my doctor, now with real abdominal pain. Was discharged from hospital three days later without my appendix. Cost? Nothing!
Not a lot of people have private health insurance. The advantage if you do is a shorter wait for non urgent surgery. My dad got a hip replacement just before Christmas, all free of course, along with a free shower seat and raised toilet seat until he was fully recovered.
We had a 10 cent charge on plastic supermarket bags, but now they're gone for good. Most supermarkets have free paper bags for fruit and veges. A reusable shopping bag costs 50 cents to $1 and if it gets damaged is replaced for free.
@@mirandahotspring4019
That’s absolutely wonderful. Sometimes because we have it so good.,we can tend to take it for granted - UNTIL we hear about American medical bills. I remember the first time I heard what they pay, what holiday pay they don’t get, their low wages etc etc , my jaw dropped. I had no idea. Gee we are lucky.
Ah, another Kiwi 😊
My Kiwi friend popped in the other day, previously we’d be laughing about the pavlova. I finally had to surrender and give her the credit 😂, but she said, you’ve got the lamingtons. I said but I like Pav more. So we’ve decided to put a bit of pavlova on a lamington 😂
@@bernadettelanders7306 Sounds like a good idea, But:
The Oxford English Dictionary may have settled a long-running argument between Australia and New Zealand over who invented the pavlova.
The dessert - meringue with fruit and cream - was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who visited both countries in the 1920s.
Australians and New Zealanders agree on that, but not on who invented it.
In its relaunched online edition, the OED says the first recorded pavlova recipe appeared in New Zealand in 1927.
i think you misunderstood the swedish parental leave a bit, not both parents stay at home for over a year, they get a shared pool of 480 days and if both stay together at home they will stay at home for 240 days, or when they split it unevenly the mum might stay home for a year and the dad for 4 months for example
90 days for mom, 90 days for dad, and 300 days to share as they please.
" if both stay together at home they will stay at home for 240 days"
No, both can't stay at home together for 240 days, you only get 30 so-called "double days" where both can stay at home together.
In Spain you have to pay (about 15 cents) for each shop supplied plastic bag - result - people re-use plastic bags
it´s 25 cents here in Germany...even the ones made out of paper...( often more expensive )...to use them more than once
@@diamantritter82 You guys are richer than us in Spain - so it probably works out even
In most of german supermarkets there're not even plastic bags available. They sell reusable fabric bags or paper bags. Most people use those reusable bags for years or they just put everything in their backpacks, purses, etc.
@@gon3808 Sounds great
In Germany, plastic bags with a wall thickness of 15 to 50 micrometers became illegal in 2022. The extremely thin ones for packing fruit/vegetables/baked goods and the thick reusable ones are still allowed
the fact that paid maternity and paternity blew you mind just shows how backward the States are, especially when Roe vs Wade was overturned
"I live in America so pretty much none" funny but genuinely sad for them at the same time.
i think you there might have at least one: this accessibility law or wossname. that all public buildings must be accessible by wheelchair and other disability equipment. or was it even all new buildings? theoretically it should be in EU as well but looks like there are loopholes.
Same here, I'm feeling so sad for them to only believe it.
But he lives in the land of the free with one who will make America great again and again and again. Pretty good though I think.
My first child was born in 1991 in The Netherlands. Paternity leave back then was 2 days. My two other children were born in Sweden in the 2000’s. With both of them I took 9 months of paternity leave, after their mother first took 1 to 1,5 years of maternity leave. During this entire period we got about 450 paid days, and the rest was unpaid leave. As parents you get to decide how many days each week you want to be paid days. As one parent was always working full time we could afford to take less paid leave for the parent staying home, and instead prolonging the leave period.
After this entire period they could walk and were ready to start pre-school in August, which is heavily subsidised and cheap. Breakfast, warm lunch, snacks, diapers, all included in the fee of about $200 a month for 2 children, 5 days a week for 8-9 hours.
The funny thing here is that you compare the US with Europe, but if you looked northward to your neighbouring country - Canada - you would find that a lot of the benefits and attitudes that are common in Europe are also similar or the same here in Canada.
You zoning out after reading that parents had to take 96 days leave was awesome to see for us Europeans who are so used to this things😀
Australia too! 😁
now make him aware that those 96 / 480 days are PAID days off!
Zoning out? It looks like he is trying his hardest not to cry when reading that
@@ACF42069 I know, but I didn't want to too on the nose😁
@@jenniferharrison8915It’s a bit different, parents in Swede are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave. Most countries in Europe are constantly adding parental days, I guess it’s same with Australia.
I’ve been using reusable bags for years now. In the UK we’ve generally become accustomed to remembering to take them on a big shop.
The are always shopping bags in the boot of the family cars. One I use frequently is over 40 years old, and inherited from my mother in law!
This.we have a really sturdy backpack for our milk and like lemonade etcetera. And then reusable bags for everything else.
I think this one's a great example of how we can adjust with time. When we (in Wales) introduced the charge, UK press went absolutely wild over it. It was a "tax on hard-working families", we were run by "dictators", etc etc. It was truly ridiculous but it sold papers. Now, a few years on, the rest of the UK has followed suit and it's a totally normal part of our lives.
We're seeing it again now with the 20mph speed limit in built up areas in Wales, introduced this year. So much noise in the press and so many inaccuracies being reported as true (it's not a blanket speed limit, not even close). In time, we and the rest of the UK will adjust and there'll be a point down the line where we won't be able to imagine driving 30mph through a busy high street.
Australia has banned all single use plastics. At the shops you either take your own bags or buy sturdy paper bags made from recycled paper. Takeaway containers are cardboard, coffee/hot drinks are in paper cups or you can use your own “Keep Cup” and paper straws are back unless you have your own reusable straws. It took a bit of getting used to but I think it’s great. Oh, and you can’t buy disposable plastic plates, bowls, eating utensils or plastic cups any more.
It is normal to go to the supermarket with a shopping bag. Besides that, your bicycle has panniers to store your stuff.
And yes everything in plastic has a tax, to stimulate use of paper if possible. And even at a take away you bring a bag.
In Spain we have 20 weeks of paid paternity leave. Just the same for moms. This was implemented to avoid male preference when applying for a job. Also, is great to have both parents at home with the newborn, so the mom doesn’t have to do all by herself. Also, the first 6 weeks are mandatory for both parents. The rest you can use it throughout the year. The government pays.
That, if done right, can be so helpful for mom to heal after what is a pretty demanding process on her body.
isn't it still 16 weeks though? they said they were going to increase 4 more weeks but as far as I know it hasn't been approved yet. (they also said it was going to be 24 weeks like a couple of years ago and we're still stuck with 16 so I don't know if they are really going to make them be 20)
@@nuriafg6955 they approved it. They have until August to implement it. I’m pregnant due in September so I asked and that’s what I was told.
Just noticed today that it's 25 days in France now, and you can also take it if you're not the father, but lives together with the mother. You also keep all social rights, and obviously your job. Pretty recent apparently, 2013 law or something, I remembered it being like 5 days for fathers. Very nice.
@@paulanavarro030110 I hope your pregnancy goes smoothly!
It’s incredible how people stay in America tbh. Get out and life is a lot better
How should they do it? Where would you put them?
It's easy to say for you. The rich don't need to and the rest can't . It is expensive to go.
@@mondfee71 i think i know at least one emigré from USA living in retirement in Estonia. i think he is kinda rich then. perhaps liked Wisconsin-like climate more than Florida 😅
alot of them get fed propoganda about how great America is compared to the rest oft he world ...... for instance China is one of the cleanest modern countries in the world yet they get told it's a 3rd world all whilst avoiding Kensington Philadelphia, Shanghai compared to any American city is a luxury
How? There i a wall now! Mexicans would pay for cheap US workers finishing it, but US is out of professional non wooden wall builders without Mexicans
@@andreashofer4442 passports? i know they are rare in America but they allow you to travel .... visa however a different story but English speaking workers have a huge advantage on working abroad in alot of countries compared tos panish speaking etc
30+ years ago, an Anglican and a Catholic charity got together and bought a refrigerated truck, and went around the restaurants and hotels in inner Vancouver, collecting unserved, prepared food. It was served next day to homeless and poor inner city residents.
Re France and supermarkets, they have also regulations to not have big supermarkets in the city centres so that the local economy of small shops can flourish. Huge supermarkets are further away
That should be implemented in Portugal. Unfortunately the traditional markets are dying in my country and I hate it.
Also the number of supermarkets in a certain area is limited (Belgium).
@@flitsertheo I envy you guys. Where I leave supermarkets have been popping up like mushrooms in the most insane way. Just disgusting. Now I understand why. They can’t grow in France, Belgium or Germany, Portugal is welcoming their expansion. I love my country but sometimes I feel our politics are so blatantly stupid.
La France et vraiment meilleur que l’États-Unis
@@evannpalma2404 I’m not that sure. Every time I visit Paris I see less and less genuine French people. Where are the true parisienses? The true French people? Lost somewhere I guess…. The same in London, in Berlin or Munich. Really sad and scaring.
Yeah, Norway has either 49 weeks paid parental leave at 100% pay, or 59 weeks at 80% pay, split into 15/19 weeks paid paternal leave, 15/19 weeks of paid maternal leave, and then they can split the remaining 16/18 weeks as the family sees fit. They can take alternating days off, do all the maternal leave at first and the paternal leave at the end, or even prolong it by doing half days if works best for their household.
The Swedes have longer leave but less pay - the further you get into the parental leave, the lower the pay.
It's fairly normal in both Sweden and Norway for children to enter daycare at around 1 year of age, although I know Norway has some financial support if you have/chose to stay at home with your child for another year which amounts to about $700 pr month or so, so some families choose to keep their child at home for another year, or at least until the daycare/kindergarten "year" starts in August.
In Norway, you either get paid by the Social Services, or - if you work in a slightly larger business - your employer keeps paying your wages like normal and then get reimbursed by the Social Services.
From Sweden here, just one parent at a time can be home with the child. You can divide the days between you the way you want, exept for about three months. You get psid!
Parents get 30 "double days" where they can use their parental days at the same time if they like.
Infants need time to bond with both parents. It has been proven to be beneficial for their mental health as they grow up. It's like with free education and universal health care: It pays for itself in the long run, often many times over. So why not invest in the population short term, when the long term financial gain is substantial? Every business person knows how smart it is to invest in the business to make it grow and make more money in the future. This is similar.
Also, the second parent gets an additional 10 days (not included in these 480) that they can use immediately when the baby is born, allowing both parents to be at home the first 2 weeks. And then those 30 overlapping days kick in...
Both get paid leave at the same time for the 2 first weeks that the baby is born
@@Kari.F. "it pays for itself in the long run" we need to remember that! (not only on this case, but many other)
Just a guick addition to the "have to take 96 days", it's mostly to not have the mother take all the parental leave but to split between both partners. Typically the mother takes more (or all) parental leave days and the man continues to work and as such employers get encouraged to hire/promote men, since they have a lower risk of missing prolonged time due to children. To combat that and promote equal pay/equal chances in the workplace males have to take at least some of the paternal time (in Germany there is a movement, it has to be split 50/50 for example, though it isn't a law yet) with the idea that men & women get treated more equaivally when it comes to promotions.
So the "have to take 96 days" part isn't about forcing people to take their leave, its about splitting the time taken more evenly.
The idea of parental leave is to make it easier for people to get children.
I don't kmnow who much the compensation in Sweden is but in Germany there is the loss of income bigger when you earn more.
My brother in law stayed home with the first child necvause my sister was not very wll after this birth but did not take the leave for the 2nd because of the financial loss.
When you have to take the leave, there mioght be people who will wage the loss of money more than having a child, which is against the idea of parental leave.
Sometimes the woman earns more than the men, that's why the man stays at home. It was like that with my sister and her husband
@@helloweener2007
I would argue thats the part of the point of having to split the time. Women typically take more time off for family related matters and more often stop working altogether. So to avoid investing in a worker thats going to be "less" productive or quit anyway men get higher salaries to stay employed or get promoted, wich in turn leads to the men earning even more money and obviously being the working part of the relationship, since the financial loss if they stayed at home would be much greater, so the cycle starts again...
So if you force the husband to generally take the same/similar time off as the mother you get rid of the reason why men get "better" jobs in the first place. Or rather you try to shrink the discrepancy between the two genders. As far as i know, there isn't really any country wich has equal pay at the moment.
@@alexandermarkhart1582
"I would argue thats the part of the point of having to split the time. Women typically take more time off for family related matters and more often stop working altogether."
This is right but you also force families to lower their household income even when they don't won't it.
"So if you force the husband to generally take the same/similar time off as the mother you get rid of the reason why men get "better" jobs in the first place."
"As far as i know, there isn't really any country wich has equal pay at the moment."
No you make the employer to take single man for the job.
Had a girlfriend once, her mother owned a pharmacy. She had around 20 employees, mostly women and part time. One got pregnante and went on maternity leave.
She had to hire another women, whioch is fine but after a few weeks she toild that she was pregnant too. You zhave ths cost for thois women too, you have to hiere a new substitute. This are all costs that men don't cause. And it is not done with forcing men out for 3 mnonths. Pregnancy can be very different. The wife of a friend was not able to work for the last 6 months of pregnancy. To much sickness, dizzyness, gestational diabetes.
Yes, one reason for the diffrence in wages is part an dfull time. But another is: different jobs.
There are many jobs in fields that can earn you much money that women don't like to do. Either because lack of physical abilities or they are not interested in the field: informatics and engnineering don't have much female students. And lots of jobs that require a some sort of higher degree are not paid over a union contract.
These are jobs you have to bargain. Men are more competitive, in general. I know that there will be exceptions.
In my friendzone there are 7 guys. We know each other since school and we are chilled with each other but when we play video or board games it is war, with banter and so on.
Over the years allmost all got girlfriends / wifes that got also in our friendzone. But they just don't commit in such level in the competition when we play something against each other. Most of them are not very interested in technical stuff / informatics / computers.
When they are the mean for women, it is absolutely clear clear why women are very rare in such good paid jobs.
And this is the reality. my university mad only very technical subjects. maths, engineering, physics, informatics, chemistry. Chemistry was with the most women and they were less than 50%. This is one reason why women have less paid jobs in mean.
And yes, it is also because they stay home more often. Somtimes it is because the father of the child earns more, sometimes because they want to stay home. Did it ever occured to you that there are woman who want this lifestyle? Being there fo4r the kids. And some have no other choice because they are single moms.
I don't think that forcing men to stay home is the right way. And it is worse for the social secuirty accounts of the country.
You have one person getting 5.000 EUR and paying in 2.500. And then you force him to stay home, you have to compensate him and a person with 2000 EUR and paying 1000 in works for him. Which is less paid in and more paid out at the end.
Would be better to compensate the women more for the educational time.
Hi from Italy: regarding food to charity. We are doing this since 1989 with banco alimentare.
Excellent.
Spain has had presumed consent for organ donation (you can opt out) - and it's the biggest organ donor country in the EU
I meant to say-has had for years- it still has the system
@@johnderrick2501 er... what?
@@SiiriRebane clarification ?
@@SiiriRebane clarification ?
@@johnderrick2501 yes, please. i do not understand what you mean, saying "has had for years- it still has the system"
In terms of space in landfills or CO2 emissions when waste is incinerated, plastic bags have a very low impact. But in regard to polluting the environment, their impact is much higher.
The 480 days are a shared pool. So each could take 240, or one could take 100 and the other 380. But one person can't take them all (since each had to take at least 96).
Also, the employer isn't the one footing the bill, the government does that. Instead they often have to hire a temp in that period, so it's not quite "free" for them.
your reaction to parental leave was not madness, but you were close to tears
Re: unsold food, even if it's close to expiry, that's usually a Best Before rather than a "Thou Shalt Use By xxx", so if reasonably stored will still be fine for a few days after without issue.
Often, freshly made products for the deli section will only have the time/date it was made/prepared stamped on it.
So when the local support services/charities do their pick up, it's liable to be used before it genuinely needs tossing as long as it's stored adequately.
In Catalonia every girl/woman can get one free menstrual cup, reusable pants or reusable pads. You just go to the pharmacy and choose what you want (it's only one of them because they are reusable and can last for years). Good for our pockets and for the environment.
They don't force us to use the parental leave in Sweden :-) But those 96 days are not possible to "give away" to your partner. But yes, we have the possibility to stay at home with our kids for a really long time. Me and my husband adopted internationally. We chose to stay at home 6 months each. Our kid was almost three years old when we adopted! It was a great way for both of us to bond and get to know our child during a really sensitive part of the adoption process. One year later our kid was ready for Kindergarten/Preschool.
At the supermarkets all over Europe you can buy grocery bags made of textile or sturdy plastic which last for years.
LOL. When my son arrived I took 6 months off from IBM here in Sweden and they topped up my salary to 100% because I spent more than 3 months on parental leave (as a dad). The government pays you a big chunk of your salary but employers can (and should!) top it up. Oh, and dads get 10 days off at actual birth too, that first time can be rough, it helps if you can shoulder it together. And birth rates are tanking here despite this.
yeah, seems like the only thing that makes people want kids is:
You will be completely miserable or just die when you get old, if you do not get enough kids to take care of you. AFAICT that is exactly the reason many people in absolute shitholes have *so* *many* *kids*.
things that seemingly don't work at all:
You'll get money!
The state will pay for and take care off your kid most of the time!
We'll try to minimize the disruption in your live!
So very unpopular solution to dwindling birth rates here:
Make the pension money you receive dependent on how many kids you have, and decouple it completely from the money paid in. (i.e. you pay you parents pension, and your kids will have to pay your pension. That means, should you decide not to have kids, you'd *need* to save half of the money you earn for retirement.)
I'm not sure but I don't think there's an age limit for assisted suicide. But you can't just show up at a clinic and be like "hey I wanna die, do you have time for me today or do I need to make an appointment?". It's meant for people with serious terminal conditions where there's no hope of ever getting better. Pretty sure you need a lot of doctor's evaluations etc, and I would be surprised if this isn't also available to 15 year-olds with horrible conditions that will never get better. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong though.
No you're right there's a whole process to go through. Dignitas do not take people who are 'weary of life' (I think that's their phrase.) But you also have to have multiple visits with doctors and psychiatrists before they even start any processes.
a 15yr-old is not yet of legal age and cannot decide this on their own; a guardian is the one deciding such matters and in some cases a court might need to approve it. apart from that technicality, age doesn't seem to be an issue
My husband managed grocery stores for 22 years. In the beginning of his career all the departments would gather everything with a short date and it was delivered to the homeless shelters or food banks. The hot food was put into containers and handed out at closing. Then the sue happy bullsh!t started. His company had settle a law suit because they received an item that was 2 days out of date at the food bank. Since it was donated by the store he got sued because she claimed that pancake mix made her son sick. The store stopped all donations and put a lock on the dumpster for liability reasons. So sad 😢
In Australia many of our state governments have actually banned single use plastic bags. Coles and Woolworths have actually now introduced paper bags.
in lithuania its 52 *WEEKS* of *PAID* parental leave *with 100% pay* (an average of last 6 months pay),
and then up to another 52 weeks paid leave with 80% pay
on parental leave, i live in italy and work at mcdonalds, if you are pregnant, you have to submit doctor's notes etc to your employer, and you are on paid maternity for your entire pregnancy
In Slovakia, we have shared parental leave with a child to his age of 3 years. 6 months are paid with ~70% of sallary but not taxed, so i got the the same sum. The other 2,5 yesrs its like ~300eur/month.
Both parents can take the 6 months for the child.
I have been with my first son 6 months on paid leave, with my second, over a year.
It was a great time.
About parental leave for dads:
In Swedish the parents will together have a total of 390 days (1 year and 2 weeks) parental leave with 80% of their salary. Each parent •has• to take at least 45 days (or maybe 90, I'm not sure), and you're supposed to split the next 300 days even, but you can use them as you'd like between the two of you. Then you have 90 more days but with way less money.
Dads also have the right to stay at home for 10 days right after the child is born so he can be there at the childbirth and take care of the child the first days of its life. And if you don't want to use all the rest 45-345 days when it's a new born, you can save the days and use it up til the child turns 12. Which means that, if you're saving some days, you don't have to use vacation days but use parental leave days to go in vacation when your child is 10 yo.
With the plastic bags - it´s not about getting some money from people for those bags, it´s about making people reuse them, bring their own bags etc. In our stores in the Czech Republic, you bring your own - often some better durable bag - or you have to buy a bag at the cashier.....plastic, paper or some better one. You have options.
Scotlands Right to Roam, you can walk anywere ish not peoples gardens but all over the Highland. Look up the vlog about 3 push brc,ers who while roaming about met and talked to the king with no security. Thay were also staying in Bothys a old system of basic cottages people can use for shelter.
SCOTLANDA Baby Box !!!!!!
10:36 I don't even remember for how long the charge existed in Czech and Slovak republic, most of my life I think. While the cost is minimal, tons of people were used to bringing fabric bags, rucksacks etc. anyways. My family also recycles extra plastic bags (if we have to buy some in case there is some unexpected buy) or use them as trash can bags for communal waste.
Hi from PT! Right, so here it is still illegal to sell drugs of course. But you are free to use them. You just cannot be found to have a big quantity of any type of drug, just enought for up to 10 doses (or somethink alike), so it is considered as for personal use.
Also here, the plastic bags, paper bags, any type of bags, in any type of store (supermarker, clothing store, book store, hardware, uber eats...), are paid for. Also any disposable food containers are taxed, and the disposable plastic cuttlery, cups, straws have been banned. You can't buy them anymore.
0 plastic bags at stores where I live....we bring our own reusable bags when shopping
England🇬🇧 I take my own bags shopping and ride my sassy lady shopper push bike there daily .. I'd say it's to save the environment...But I'm just poor 😄👍
The carrier bag fee comes from research that shows if you add 5p for using plastic bags people are more likely to bring their own. However, if you offer a 5p discount people don't really change their behaviour.
12:16 when he said each parent has to use at least 96 days since they can share the days he meant that 1 parent can’t take all the days and that the other partner takes at least 96 days out of 480
12:22 you can't help it but feel bad for seeing the sad look on his face when reading about the paternal leave. I know, I would feel the same and I'm not even a father. Love your videos! 🥲
And the dads gets 10 days extra days to be home with new mom and baby as well. This are ment to use when the child is new born
About grocery stores donating extra food to charity: here in Finland, there has recently been some discussion about this because often, because of strict laws about food safety, it is not possible. If something is already past its "use before" date, then it cannot even be given away. If there is even a slight theoretical risk that something might cause food poisoning because it is too old, it cannot be even given away anymore. Grocery stores here give some of their food to charity but I don't know how much it currently is.
Some time ago there was a fire in a shopping center and although it didn't cause much damage, they lost electricity for several days. There's a grocery store in that building and of course all their refrigerators and freezers stopped working because they didn't have extra power sources for such a long time. They gave away some of the stuff but I think that they had to pay to have most of it destroyed, because it simply isn't legal to give away frozen goods that have melted.
Parental leave in Finland is 320 working days (meaning that Sundays and other holidays are in addition to that). Parents can decide how they want to divide the leave between themselves. In addition, there is a pregnancy leave that usually starts 30 days before the estimated due date of the baby.
Anyone who doesn't get paid paternity leave should be angry.
Your family NEEDS YOU for those early months. But... They also need your income. Too many fathers have to make that hard choice.
In Canada fathers get paid out of government-run employment insurance, premiums mandatory on each paycheque.
All plastic bags at grocery stores have had a price for decades in Norway. They actually increased it last year.
Once upon a time in Australia, packs of eggs with broken ones would be repacked into no name cartons and sold at the cheapest price. Then my company decided it didn’t want to pay staff to do this and they were throwing them in the bin.
Recently they were made to ‘donate’ all damaged pack to charities so they advertise this like crazy. They also donate food but not until it’s out of date.
Companies loved the ban on plastic bags because they can now charge you for them but the amount of plastic used to transport stock has increased……..
In the UK ALL grocery chains will sale flash products close to expiry, and let Charities pick uo on-date produce for donation.
Every supermarket will offer multi-use bags for groceries foe less than 50c so you can not get single use bags.
Assisted suicide is VERY controlled for mental state and circumstance, only people with a real reason, pain/personal state/ suffering are allowed.
In the EU each year September 22nd is the "day without cars" - in most countries You can ride public transport just presenting a drivers license (or vehicle registration) instead of the bus ticket.
In Quebec, Canada we don't have plastic bags in grocery store anymore. Paper bags are 10 cents. No more plastic bags in Walmart either. If we don't have our reusable bags we have to buy a reusable bag for a dollar.
In Canada Paternity leave is 5 weeks and they call it " Daddy Days" and maternity is 12 to 18 months.
3:06 some foods literally cannot be donated (vegetables, fresh meat). Those are usually sold to methane producing facilities
Public transport is free for everyone, I only know of two exceptions. First you have to stay in the country, you can't get on a train in Luxembourg and go to Germany for free. The journey is free until you cross the border. If you take the train further across the border, you will need to buy a ticket. Second exception: You cannot use the first class compartments unless the staff opens the doors to everyone.
In Germany, 'assisted suicide' is called Sterbehilfe (decease aid). Assisted suicide is one of 4 possible ways to do so, like giving the person the means to commit suicide (the other 3 are active aid, passive aid and indirect aid). It's a highly discussed topic here, cause sometimes it's hard to tell what the person who dies really wanted. It is technically not illegal here, but only for passive aid actually. Every other kind is not really regulated and is decided by case to case. It used to be completely illegal till a few years ago, but technically goes against several of our most important laws - like 'human dignity is invaluable' or the basic right to make your own choices about your life and well, death.
Also, there is no active law that forces german supermarkets to not throw away leftover produce. But most supermarkets are applying measures to prevent that (cause in Germany, having waist costs money). The most common measure is give a 30% discount to food that is close to expiration date, usually between 3 days prior and the actual date. They get a fat red sticker and in some supermarkets designated corners in the selection. Also, my local Edeka (a bit more sophisticated grocery store) has a corner behind the check-outs, more like a wall: it has racks filled with fresh produce like veggies and fruits and salad, that can not be sold anymore. Usually produce that didn't get sold the day before, for veggies up to 3 days old stuff. It's entirely free. Everyone can just come in and grab whatever they want from there, however much they want and take it home. I love this concept. You often see retired people grab something quickly and leave, also popular with students. I think they introduced it after 'containering' became a hot topic, in my university town.
Lastly: Germany is not really progressive with laws nowadays, but here is something i consider progressive for NOT having a law. Breaking out of prison and running away from the police is not punishable by law. If the police wants to arrest you and you turn around and run away, you will not be punished for that (whatever they wanted to arrest you for is unchanged though). If you break out of prison, it can not be punished and cannot have any influence on your sentence or on your situation in prison once you get caught. Of course, every other crime you commit while doing so will be added (e.g. property damage, theft, speeding, injuring someone, etc) if it happened.
Germany has decriminalised Cannabis partly as well.
German here. My boss has just come back from three months of paid parental leave, he became a father for the first time in December. In December he worked part-time at the company and the rest was covered by overtime, after the birth he went on leave until the end of December and was on parental leave from the beginning of January until the third week of March. The rest of his parental leave is being used by his wife, but he has kept an option for another three months of parental leave if necessary. I think that's great!
Here in north Europe, we say “ a little child must have known 2 parents the first year.
I think that I’ve read that plastic bags are 25% of the plastics here on land and rivers,
On sea is it more disposable garbage from shipping (legal and illegal) and what comes out of rivers.
Romania plans a project for 112 number. In the future, people will be able to text or video call the police or even your car can do it in case of emergency. Also, they created an app for patients where their relatives can see what happens to them at the emergency room: what tests they get done, what doctors are they seeing, all in real time.
In the UK pensioners get to use buses for free
With regard to plastic bags, I thought they were mostly out of use. I guess I assumed that, because that's how it is where I live. I'm in Montreal, Quebec. Many years ago they started charging for them, as incentive to bring your own. Now in most establishments, they just don't exist. You can buy a reusable cloth bag, or you bring your own. Even at the Dollarama. 🙂 Having never been in a Walmart, though i can't speak for them.
The 96 days you NEED to use in Sweden isn't a mandatory leave :D
It's just that the other days can be transferred to the other parent. But 96 has to be kept.
It's the state that pays the "föräldrapenning" (parent pay) and it's 80% of your normal income or a maximum of 1218 SEK per day (rought $115) You can submit 7 days each week, but your days will be used up quicker. For my kids (2 of em) I took out 2 weeks right when they were born and then for 2 summers straight I used 60 days (plus 20 vacation days) to have a relaxing summer with the family. The rest of my days were "donated" to my kids mom.
Also, if you get sick on a day when you're on parental leave you can "pause" your leave and get the same payout in the form of a sick pay instead.
Same with vacation days in Sweden. If you get sick while on vacay, call it in, save X amounts of vacation days for later.
In the EU, most foods in supermarkets have a best-before date. The manufacturer guarantees that it will be edible until this date if you follow the storage instructions, e.g. if the packaging has been opened, the remainder must be stored in the refrigerator. This means that food that has not been sold by the best-before date or shortly before it would be thrown away if this law did not exist. In most cases, the product can still be consumed even after the best-before date has been reached because it has not yet spoiled. In Germany there is “Die Tafel”, which collects such food from the supermarket and gives it to poorer families and pensioners. This not only saves money, but also significant resources. Try to imagine what it means if, for example, 1kg of beef is thrown away. This may not be a good example, but here I know that it takes about 4000 liters of water to produce 1kg of beef. Feel free to delve deeper into this topic. You will be surprised at what you uncover. This is sometimes really shocking when you consider how we deal with food in Western countries.
In Spain it was ages ago that they started charging for plastic bags in supermarkets (and even paper bags in supermarkets and other retail shops). We have just grown accustomed to bring our own reusable bags everywhere. Also, they have too given the same 4 months to dads for paternal leave so employers don't discriminate between hiring a man or a woman on that account anymore (as well as incentivising nativity)
Here in Austria we don't have plastic bags in shops at all. We have the so called bag for life or we ha e to buy a recycled paper bags for a few cents.Everything bought is given over the counter with out a bag so its up to us to take our own bag which is easy and saves plastic.
In the UK no one is bothered by the charge on bags as we all now just take our own. It is automatic now that everyone is used to it. But if you do get caught short, you can buy one. And what you never see now, ever, is plastic bags blowing in the wind.
Just to clarify on parental leave in Sweden; it's not 480 days each. It's 480 days shared for both parents, and they can allocate it however they want (split evenly, majority for mother, or majority of father).
96 days is reserves for each parent, though. That means that the mother can't take the entirety of the 480 days themselves, they could--at most--take 385 days, since 96 of those are reserved for the father and can't be used by the mother.
It's up to the parents how they want to divide them, but what they tend to do is that the mother takes at least the first half (if not the full year), while the father takes 2-4 weeks off when the baby is born to help out initially and do some bonding. Then when the mother goes back to work, the father takes their paternity leave. That's how parents tend to do it in my experience, but again, it varies.
It's 480 days per child, with the exception of twins. Then it's 480+180 days. Not sure how it's handled for triplets to be honest, I would assume 480+360?
Also. One aspect of markets shying to give expired or near expired food away is because of liability. If they however are obligated to do so then the liability lessens.
14 days paid vacation days to use only for fathers around the due date and paid maternity leave (goverment pays it ) for 1.5 years in Estonia. .(mother and father can share it one at the time after the baby is 6 months old..so its easier to get back to work for mothers also) Employer is obligated to provide you the same or equal job when you return in that time frame + Local goverment is obligated to have a spot in kindergarden/daycare for your kid after you kid is 1.5 years old + it is harder to fire an employee with a kid under the age of 3. Also..you can stay at home for another 1.5 years for no-paid maternity leave to spend it with your kid.. if you can afford it :)
The free public transport in Luxembourg is awesome, and you don’t need to be a citizen of Luxembourg. Especially great if you’re out on the town and drinking, because the buses still run later in the night. So it’s also safer. The first time I got to use it, it felt illegal.
In the Netherlands you also need to opt out, in regards to donorship. And we just need to pay a small amount for single use plastics. If I order food for takeout, or ask for a bag in a shop, I get charged 0,25 per plastic item.
Being a Swede i can explain that the days with parental leave is to be shared by the parents . But well planned it means that the first year and a half a parent takes care of the child. It´s a win win for the society! The kids are happy in the long run and the parents are both better connected to the child! 😃
about Sweden, have a friend that works for IKEA, he went to Sweden to get a big job with a lot of responsibilities to the headquarters. He stayed after the workday to do some extra work. After a week, he was called back and was obligated to stop working when the workday finishes. He wasn't allowed to do additional hours 🤣.
Sounds like a guy I know, is he from Canada?
Its like that at a lot of places here - same with my boss, he wanted us to be alert and perform our best at our office hours , rather then perform bad and getting less done in 10h then in 8h when not getting enough rest over time
Sweden introduced a tax on 'single-use' plastic bags in 2020. This of course decreased the sales of plastic bags compared to paper bags, as the price of plastic bags increased from roughly 30 cents to 70 cents whilst the paper bags remained the same price. The issue, however, is that grocery store-plastic bags are pretty durable (in Sweden at least), and not for one time usage only - they are of multiple usage, i.e. as trash bags afterwards, something that paper bags are not. This has lead to people buying cheaper big packs of plastic bags in less good quality on top of paper bags, resulting in this law being insufficient to its goal, and creating more consumption in general. This tax law has become quite controversial in Sweden because of this, and it appears to be revoked in November later this year.
In Japan, they usually discount food or items that get close to their expiration date.
I recieved specific paid "Paternity Leave" from the British military when my wife gave birth to our son. Back in 1990!
Supermarkets in the UK will sell you a "bag for life", for around 18c, which means when the bag wears out, or gets a hole, etc, the supermarket will change it for a new bag for free. They will then recycle the old bag and make it into a new "bag for life"! Plastic bags account for 40% of all plastic collected from Oceans only!
Number one garbage item found on the coast is food wrappers, then cigarette butts, plastic bottles, bottle caps and then plastic bags..
But the micro plastic in the ocean is on another level:
Just some numbers here, from which sources they come from:
#1 Synthetic textile (35%, from washing machines mostly).
#2 car tires (28%)
#3 city dust (24%)
#4 road markings (7%)
In Portugal we have a 28 utility days leave for dads and about 6 months for mums (I think) also after going back to work you have the right to a nursing schedule where you go from 8h/day work for 6h.
This year we also passe the law that parents have the right to a full month payed leave with the death of a child and 15 days for abortion (I think)
In Canada, we have Medical Assisted Suicide, it's called MAID (Medical Assistance In Dying) and became law in 2016; it should be note it cannot be accessed by foreigners. As for charging for single use bags, it's been a thing for awhile here and there was some whining, but now it's common practice to have re-usable. Like Ireland, plastic bag pollution dropped significantly here as well. Paternal Leave (paid) can range from 15 (initial leave) to 40 weeks depending on the situation/province. Maternity Leave (paid) can go as high as 50 weeks (initial 15 weeks, with additional 35 weeks) again dependent on each case. I can't imagine how any modern country could deny any kind of paid leave for new parents, it's so counter-intuitive.
I live in France and you have to pay for your bags at the stores. The cost is around 1 euro a bag. They have bags you can purchase that are canvas, and burlap that can be used over and over. I have about 6 and one bag that is insulated for frozen food. I have been using my bags going on for 10 years.
I'm italian and I took 4 months my baby was just born. Not 100% paid but ok anyway...
Oh Ryan here @12:24 you look almost heartbroken or considering getting into a plane to Sweden lol! In Spain, we currently have 16 weeks of paid leave for both parents, which is about to be turned into 20 weeks apparently, and the first 4 weeks also must be used. I am also jealous of Sweden.
1:37 In Luxembourg public transportation is free for everyone, also for people from outisde Luxembourg. Around Luxembourg City and at some border town there are park and rides so you can park your car and use train and bus for free for rest of journey.
Greek here, 9 months maternal paid leave, and if mother wants she can give up to 7 months(from her nine months) to the father.
Only one parent in the house with the child!
But in Sweden you only receive 80% of your salary in compensation during parental leave, in addition there are certain maximum amounts and other parts that collective agreements handle. It may therefore be economically advantageous for the person with the highest salary to take the least amount of parental leave (96 days).
But some employers match up the lost 20% so U get the same money anyway
15cents per plastic bag in Ireland. Ppl bring reusable bags to shop
Here in Portugal Dad' have 28 days they have to spent whit their child, and then about 150 days that the couple can decide to share half, or the mother can decide to be the dad to take care of the baby all that time (rare cases).
Luxemburg transports are free for all, even for foreigners. Train is included ( free to the border for international trains). But to be fair, Luxemburg has nothing in common with the US, those free transports are really just a detail...
In New Zealand we are not allowed to have single use shopping bags at all, Part of the issue was the environmental impact on the production as well as the bags everwhere,
In Sweden you had to pay close to 1 USD per each plastic bag. Even before the tax you had to pay for plastic bags and then it was about 10-20 cents.
The tax had been repealed because it was very punitive.
The Deutschlandticket (lit. 'Germany ticket') is a subscription public transport ticket for all local public transport, valid in the whole of Germany, that costs 49 euros per month. The German federation (Bund) and the federal states (Länder) initially participate in the financing with 1.5 billion euros per year until 2025.