THE 15 COUNTRIES THAT EMPOWER MOTHERS

March 8th, 2019 is International Women’s Day an exciting reminder to honor all of the hard working Moms around the world. After all, motherhood is both rewarding and a lot of hard work.

Moms Priceless Sacrifice

While being a Mom is priceless, Salary.com, “leader in compensation data, planning and analytics” heavily researched to calculate Mom's would-be paycheck. The Salary.com survey estimated that a stay-at-home Mom’s salary is $162,581 on average if she were to get paid for all that she does.

Moms go through so much, and their bodies experience massive changes through nine months of growing a little human. A new mother's postpartum body changes not only physically, but on a  hormonal and emotional level. Postpartum depression can make taking care of a baby much harder and having to return to work too quickly. As much as mothers want to have it all, they’re often forced to make a difficult decision to choose between career and having a family.

However, some countries around the world place a high value on motherhood.

15 Amazing Countries That Honor Motherhood

1. United Kingdom: United Kingdom mothers are pretty lucky as the UK offers a generous one year of paid maternity leave no matter how long or short an expecting mother has worked for the employer. Mom also qualifies for free prescriptions and dental treatment while pregnant and for the following year after baby is born.
2. Singapore: Talk about cold hard cash, Singapore has to be one of the more generous countries. Each expecting parent receives $6,000 for their first and second child. But if you're planning on having more children, the government gives an additional $12,000 the third and fourth child. But that's not all the government gives a family's first child $3000 to save in a savings account and matches parents contribution up to $3000. The second child gets even more money in their savings, receiving $9,000 and the third $15,000. The maximum contribution the government provides is an additional $18,000 grant for parents with five kids.
3. France: France has a mandatory eight-week maternity leave policy, but new mothers can take up to 16 weeks. The best part about having a baby in France is that health insurance covers Mom 100 percent that includes no hidden fees or co-payments. France covers everything from prenatal testing including screenings for congenital disabilities and disease to epidural and delivery plus twelve days post delivery. The average hospital stay after childbirth in France is three days. However, if Mom wants to go home within the first five days, they get a visit with a midwife who comes to their home. Plus, France offers free pelvic floor muscle classes for new mothers. This is why Moms in France experience less postpartum incontinence.
4. Sweden: Moms and Dads are equally able to take 480 days of maternity/paternity leave. The leave available to both sexes was designed to promote better gender equality policies so that 240 days are allotted to each parent totaling 480 days. Leave can be taken at any time from birth until the child is eight years old and pays out 80 percent of their salary.
5. Netherlands: Expecting working mothers should expect to have 16 weeks of paid maternity leave. This isn't just partial pay, but their full salary and the leave can be taken anytime after six weeks of pregnancy until 34 weeks. But, it must be taken by 36 weeks of pregnancy and especially after the baby is born. In addition to this Netherland, parents are given up to 6 and a half months(26 weeks) of parental leave. The Netherlands also provides a nurse for the first week of the baby's birth to help with breastfeeding techniques, cooking, managing visitors, and overall Mom and baby care.
6. Norway: Moms in Norway get paid 100 percent of their salary during their 46 parental leave weeks, or they can choose 80 percent of their salary and extend their leave to 52 weeks. Plus after each child, both parents get two weeks to spend with baby. The remaining 46 weeks can be divided. Similar to Sweden, the maternity program is designed to help new mothers get back to work if she chooses to do so and honors the role of Dad taking time off to bond with baby. Norway also offers flexible and generous childcare essentially paying for private and public daycare subsidized by the government. All Norwegian children qualify for free daycare once they turn one year old.
7. Canada: Moms can take up to 52 weeks off of work without losing her job, 15 weeks of which would be fully paid. On top of this, Canadian mothers and fathers can divide 35 weeks of paid parental leave however they'd like. Currently, the amount for paid parental leave maxes out at $562 per week. However, couples that make $200,000 will not qualify.
8. Finland: Moms can take their maternity leave seven weeks before their due date and the government covers 16 weeks paid maternity leave. The paid leave includes students and even mothers who are unemployed. Dads also get eight weeks of paid paternity leave as well. What's even more unique is the Finland tradition dating back to 1930 where the government gives new mothers a “baby box” filled with newborn essentials plus it's large and contains a mattress, so it acts as the baby's first bascinet. Moms can choose between the box of goodies or cash at 140 euros.
9. Iceland: Currently Iceland mothers and fathers can take up to three months each maternity and paternity leave with an additional three months shared between them. This totals nine months of maternity/paternity leave. Maternity/paternity leave is paid at 80 percent of both Mom and Dad’s income. A recent bill is trying to extend the nine months to 12 months of leave once baby is born. A whopping 90 percent of Iceland fathers take paternity leave once baby is born.
10. Germany: New Moms in Germany get to stay in at the hospital between five to ten days depending upon whether a new mother ends up needing to have a c-section while this might not seem like much it allows for mom to bond with baby. If you consider the average five-day hospital stay in the U.S. is around $10,000, five to ten days at a German hospital is generous. Moms have mandatory maternity leave and are paid wages for a full year. If both parents decide to take leave, they can take a combined leave of 14 months. Germany pays anywhere between 300.00 to 1,800.00 euros a month.
11. Russia: Moms receive up to 140 days (approximately 4.5 months) of full salary paid leave. However, new mothers can take up to a year-and-a-half leave from work drawing 40 percent of their paycheck and extend their leave to three years without concern over job loss. After Russia realized that their birth-rate was low, they took serious measures to encourage new births. September 12th, 2007, Russia declared "the Day of Conception" the government gave couples time off work to procreate enticing potential expecting mothers with winning “money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes.” The winner must have the baby around Russia’s June 12 festivities.
12. Japan: Japanese mothers receive eight weeks of paid maternity leave. Japan also offers childcare leave which applies to either parent. While the Japanese government doesn’t pay for maternity leave, social insurance helps cover the lost wages and pays either parent while on leave. One town receives mating incentives of “100,000 yen (about $940) for the first baby, but get 1 million yen (about $9,400) for the fourth kid.”
13. Brazil: In Brazil, a newborn baby is immediately granted citizenship even if both the mother and father are not from Brazil and just visiting. Moms are allowed to have permanent residency. And only one year after birthing a baby in Brazil, the mother can apply for Brazilian citizenship and stay indefinitely.
14. India: In Tamil Nadu, one of India’s 29 states, the state opened up 352 breastfeeding rooms in an effort to reduce high infant mortality. In addition to this, they also opened milk banks in seven hospitals. These milk banks help to preserve breast milk donations for up to three months. What makes Tamil Nadu one of the best states in India for new mothers is that everything is free for pregnant moms until the baby is six months.Additionally, Indian Moms get Rs6,000 ($92.30.) While this might not seem like a lot in U.S. dollars, the money goes a long way in India in terms of being able to buy food. This was a National Food Security Act passed in 2012 by the government in India to provide maternity benefits to all women in India.
15. China: Moms get pampered and adhere to a traditioned called “sitting the month.” While there are strict rules and some old fashioned restrictions, “sitting the month” is meant to help bond Mom with baby and restore balance. Moms essentially stay indoors with their newborn for an entire month. They are expected to eat well in order to boost breast milk production, not have any visitors and to avoid distractions. The purpose is to focus on baby and recovery. But some wealthier Chinese Moms go to maternity care centers that cost anywhere between $11,000 to $27,000 for the month. Moms bond with baby while having spa treatment having access around the clock nursing care, nannies, acupuncture, parenting classes, a chef that make their meals, etc.

How Happy Little Camper Is Empowering Mothers

Happy Little Camper understands the costly expenses of being a mother and our hearts go out to needy families that can’t afford baby hygiene products. A baby will go through approximately 2,500 diapers in their first year. Plus on average newborn will require anywhere between 300 to 500 baby wipes within the first three months! This adds to about $150 per month in extra costs for complete diapering needs per child. Meanwhile, 1 in 3 families can’t afford essential baby hygiene products.

Happy Little Camper has donated more than 125,000 natural baby wipes plusbaby hygiene products to less fortunate babies and their families throughBaby2Baby,Austin Diaper Bank in Texas, and theSalvation Army.

Here at Happy Little Camper we continue to produce high quality baby hygiene product, that is natural, hypoallergenic, and yet affordable. While mother’s around the world should be celebrated and praised every single day for their hard work and dedication to their family, International Women’s Day serves to remind us of the positive strides countries all over the globe are making in respecting and empowering motherhood.