Via SavvySugar, we learn that New Jersey might become the third state in the union to make paid lead a right for those workers who have a new baby or need to take care of a sick relative.

Workers taking leave would be eligible for two-thirds their salary maxing out at $524 per week for six weeks. The measure would be financed by employee payroll deductions that would cost New Jersey workers a maximum of $33 a year. The assembly is expected to approve the bill next week, and if the bill becomes law it would be effective as of the first of next year.

It goes without saying, at least to me, that this is a good idea. All workers should be in favor of this sort of thing. Why? Because all workers would benefit from it.

It is positively worth it to me to pay $30 or so dollars a year to have this sort of “insurance” available to me. One day, I will have a new baby. One day you will too. Or your son or daughter might.

And one day I’ll have to take some time off to help my aged parents. You will too.

And one day I’ll be the aged parent and my sons and daughters will need the flexibility to look after me. Ditto for you.

And with this sort of insurance, we’d all have the flexibility to take time off for these sorts of things without jeopardizing our careers or our finances.

I can hear the grumbling out there… more taxes… more taxes…

Listen, I’m very much a middle of the road political moderate and fiscal conservative. I’m a businessman, after all. But have we become so inculcated against taxes and anything the government does, that we’re even against things that would directly help us?

That’s why I say every worker should be in favor of this sort of thing. It helps all of us working folk. Every state in the union should offer this.

We middle class and working class people shouldn’t be afraid to be greedy. This isn’t just another government handout to help “someone else.” This is a valuable benefit that can someday help you!

I’m greedy! I want paid leave when I have a kid in a couple of years. And I’m willing to pay $30 a year for the privilege.

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Dream of quitting your job to stay home with the kids? The first step is understanding your expenses. The second? Seeing if your family can cover them comfortably on just one salary. Remember, the more accurate the information you enter, the more confident you can be about the results. Not sure what to put in each slot? Click on the ? for tips. If something doesn’t apply to you, go ahead and leave the field blank.

The Parents.com Stay At Home Calculator
h/t (GetRichSlowly)

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3. Ask Brian- Parents Fundraising In The Office

If you have career or job search question you would like answered on this blog, click here to Ask Brian.

Reader Sarah from Buffalo writes:

“Don’t you just hate when parents bring their kids fundraising drive into the office?

A co-worker brought in the dreaded list-o-magazine-subscriptions today and went one by one to everyone’s desk. She wouldn’t leave until you bought something. I didn’t want to turn her down and feel like a heel… but I don’t even know her kids, or their school. And I don’t want any new magazines. And at $20 a pop, if everyone in the office broke down and ordered, that’s like $300!”

Brian answers after the break:

Brian says:

To answer your question, yes, that always drives me nuts too.

Forget about the imposition on you and the unprofessional begging at the workplace. What about the kids? It always bothers me when parents do the work for the kids. Shouldn’t a fundraiser be a learning experience, teaching networking, organizational skills, etc? What do they learn if mom and dad magically produce 3 dozen donors by extorting their co-workers?

I don’t know that this is a question that demands “expert opinion” so let me just give you my policy:

• I don’t fundraise at work. That’s a family and friends thing. It’s simply not professional.
• If I absolutely broke down and took a fundraiser into work, I wouldn’t accost people individually. I’d post the thing above my desk or in the break room and people could sign up if the spirit moved them.
• There are only two ways to handle the fundraising of others. First, have a blanket policy that you don’t contribute. If you initiate this policy, you have to stick to it. Sure, feelings might be hurt, but in the end, all comers will be disappointed, so it will even out. Second, have a blanket policy that you only contribute the same amount to everyone. Say, $10. If that’s not enough, tough (girl scout) cookies. Its a question of fairness.

Readers, do you have other strategies or policies you can add? How do you handle parents fund raising at work? Tell us in the comments.

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I know… sounds like the title of a dry academic research paper…

Over at the Simple Dollar, they’ve crunched the numbers on something I’ve always suspected myself. How much is a stay-at-home parent actually worth, in every day economic terms?

In other words, if you give up your job for a while and stay home to take care of your kids, how much are you contributing to the household balance, in terms of cost savings? Sure, there’s not a second stream of income coming in, but you are saving on things like daycare costs, medical costs, transportation, food expenses, etc.

Until recently, I viewed the choice of being a stay at home parent solely as a loss of income in a couple’s life. If both adults are working and one chooses not to pursue professional employment, then the income at that house is going to go down.

Over time, though, I began to realize that being a stay at home parent has a lot of significant value on its own. Not only does it produce inherent savings through the lifestyle change, but a committed stay at home parent can significantly alter the household budget in a profound number of ways – some obvious, some not.

The ultimate number they come up with is $560 a week in cost savings. That’s the equivalent of a $29,000 a year job. That’s certainly something to consider: if one parent is making $35k a year, then perhaps staying at home with the babies is more cost effective than working, but outsourcing for daycare, healthcare, etc.

As the commenters to the post point out, this analysis does not take into account things like money that could be contributed to retirement, the loss of future earning potential and even falling behind in your career peer group.

Still, we know the benefits of at-home parenting are enormous and long-lasting. If the economics are at least comparible, is it also a good idea, dollar-wise, to stay home with the kids?

Working parents out there, read the analysis (they give it to you line by line) and then tell us what you think in the comments. Does it pay to stay home with the kids?

The Real Value of Stay At Home Parenting (TheSimpleDollar)

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