When a co-worker told me about The Today Show running a piece on moms crowdfunding maternity leave, the first thing that came to mind was “why didn’t I think of that?”
NBC News Correspondent Olivia Sterns spoke with a couple moms from Virginia with a financial dilemma, each facing maternity leave with no support from their employers. So they decided to jump on the go fund me bandwagon to raise money for their maternity leave.
Footing the bill themselves is virtually impossible considering that The Family Medical Leave Act doesn’t ensure that moms will get paid time off from work for the full 12 weeks of their maternity leave.
When it comes to the cost of having a baby, you can expect to shell out a pretty penny. According to a 2013 USDA report, the average middle-income family will spend about $14,000 on child-related costs during their baby’s first year.
When my husband and I found out we were expecting our first child, I was shocked to find out that my maternity leave only covered about five weeks for a normal vaginal delivery. The remaining time was covered by sick and personal time off, hours previously worked, along with vacation time I had previously saved up.
My husband, on the other hand, did receive a week of paternity leave through FMLA. But, the remaining two weeks he decided to take was paid for using vacation time he had accrued.
Fortunately, we were able to adjust our finances accordingly to cover our growing expenses, even with a ton of hidden hospital costs that weren’t covered by our insurance that left us grappling to keep our head above water. If you’re not as fortunate as that, then it might be wise to look into financing options like those on https://www.coininsider.com/de/bitcoineer/.
When we welcomed our son a few years later, we were in a better financial position. But with a growing family, our obligations more than doubled. So I can certainly understand why so many women are starting go fund me pages to cover baby costs. But aside from that, they may also take their chances on games like wow vegas online casino. If they win the jackpot, they may even be set for life.
Please head over to my mom.me blog to read more about parents turning to crowdfunding to afford maternity and parental leave.
Would you consider starting a go fund me page to raise money to cover your maternity or paternity leave?
