[quote]The amount of "parental leave" due to pregnancy is very much a fiscal issue. When a woman is on paid maternity leave, she is effectively being paid for doing absolutely nothing work-related. This means that everyone else at your place of work has to pick up your slack during the mother's time off. Unless a woman chooses to not have a child (or cannot have a child) in her lifetime, this privilege is awarded to every woman who is pregnant. So even if a woman has to pick up the slack for another woman who is pregnant, it will even out for the currently working woman once she has a child. Unfortunately, nothing evens out for men. Collectively, women have to work less hard than men to receive the same wages. Maybe this plays into the alleged income gap?[/quote] You can do this in Canada. A man can take the leave if he wants to. In Canada we get a full year of parental leave paid through the federal employment insurance program. The leave can all be taken by one parent or split between the two.