To commemorate Mother’s Day, John Oliver shone some light on the United States draconian policy on maternity leave on Sunday’s edition of “Last Week: Tonight.”
Federal law allows workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave with various restrictions, causing many women to use vacation and sick days to create a makeshift maternity leave at the risk of losing their jobs.
United States shares this distinction with one other country — Papua New Guinea, according to the UN.
“This is not how its supposed to work,” Oliver said. “Mothers shouldn’t have to stitch together time to recover from childbirth the same way that we plan a four-day weekend in Atlantic City.”
The host shifted to paternity leave, pointing out how the Mets’ Daniel Murphy faced a wave of ridicule after taking some time to care for his newborn.
One spots radio jock: “I would’ve said C-section before the season starts, I need to be at opening day.”
Oliver’s audience erupted.
“Good luck selling that to your wife!” he said. “Listen babe, I know I play 162 games in a season but I can’t miss a single one, so, let’s cut that thing out of your belly so I can wear my baggy pajamas and swing a cone of wood to make a ball go far.”
Watch the clip:
Everything for the rich, nothing for anyone else. That’s the American way.
Oh, and be happy you have a job.
America’s maternity leave policy (the shame of the Developed World) is a refutation of the concept of “women’s rights” in this country.
Even we “backward” Latin American countries are better than the American levels of government the TeaBaggHillBillyRubes seem determined to foist on everyone else (and have mostly succeeded).
His piece on the Japanese mascots after the Mothers Day piece had me literally rolling on the floor. I love John Oliver’s show.
The British sense of humour was on display in a novel I once read dealing with WWII Allied POW camps, one of which featured American and British POWS in separate (though connected) venues.
The novelist was quick to note that the Brits were quite ribald and full of jokes, much more than the American blokes (and Americans have a hell of a sense of humour).