> my wife got 18 months maternity leave
With 100% of salary, 50%?
I know some countries 'hold' your place of employment up to 5 years, although one gets only symbolic money during all that time, think like 10% of the salary.
100% for the first 12 months, then 50% for the next 6.
We could have shared that too, but chose not to.
By law they must hold her position.
Who paid for that 18 months? Your wife’s lower salary did.
If lower salary means they won’t go bankrupt, and won’t have to sell their house or live paycheck to paycheck from a small medical issue it’s a Great trade off.
US adults have the shortest life span among the richest countries so it sucks even more, even your high salary and zero medical issue still means you are living inferior life.
If more money made for a better life, you’d think the US would rank higher in quality of life measures, rather than often being dead last among its peer OECD nations.
That line of thinking has very much been proven wrong by decades of facts.
I gave a talk in Montana last week and I could hear a pin drop when I said my wife got 18 months maternity leave so we travelled the world with our little one.