long term maternity leave (debate)

[jmmom80]

Dept of Labor Unemployment Tax Info

i see lots about employer contributions, nothing about employee contributions.

or this

The Federal Unemployment Tax Act, together with state unemployment systems, provides benefits to workers during brief periods of unemployment. No employee contributions are required. Employers pay 6.2% of the employee's first $7,000 of

 

[DarrenSt]

Jmmom it may be lumped in with one of the other deduction on the pay stub and you would never know it so why would it make it any different if they took some of the money deducted to use for the mat leave you are allready paying it anyhow so what is the difference.

 

[jmmom80]

Originally posted by DarrenSt
Jmmom it may be lumped in with one of the other deduction on the pay stub and you would never know it so why would it make it any different if they took some of the money deducted to use for the mat leave you are allready paying it anyhow so what is the difference.

no, it's not lumped in. i'm one of those people that actually checks my pay stub to make sure all of the numbers add up. i have federal income tax withholding, which is reported on my w-2 every year at tax time and used to calculate my refund/payment and from which no unemployment tax is taken. and i have fica (social security/medicare) which is the correct percentage for those two programs.

and as i've shown in the two links provided, employees don't contribute to unemployment insurance, at least not at the federal level. i have no idea what the states do, although obviously florida doesn't deduct for them.

 

[jrydberg]

From the IRS Website:

The federal unemployment tax is part of the federal and state program under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) that pays unemployment compensation to workers who lose their jobs. You report and pay FUTA tax separately form social security and Medicare taxes and withheld income tax. You pay FUTA tax only from your own funds. Employees do not pay this tax or have it withheld from their pay. Report FUTA taxes on Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax return or if you qualify, you can use the simpler From 940-EZ instead.

 

[jmmom80]

so why would it make it any different if they took some of the money deducted to use for the mat leave you are allready paying it anyhow so what is the difference.

the difference is that unemployment insurance is to help out those that are involuntarily unemployed. it shouldn't be used for those that are voluntarily unemployed, which is what happens when a woman chooses to stay home after having a baby.

 

[DarrenSt]

So do they spellout to you exactly what every penny of your deductions go to for the govt when they take it out. I must admit I have not looked at the links posted so if it is in there I do appologise for that. I mean they could take the taxes off and divert it to any number of things without ever tellign anyone what the money is actually going to.

 

[poohandwendy]

In Pennsylvania, the employee contributes .09% to state unemployment insurance (SUI), the employer contributes between 1% and 10% (it is an adjustable rate depending on different details)

 

[MikeyNS]

Originally posted by jmmom80
the difference is that unemployment insurance is to help out those that are involuntarily unemployed. it shouldn't be used for those that are voluntarily unemployed, which is what happens when a woman chooses to stay home after having a baby.

Don't forget that the woman can go back to work and the man can look after the baby too.

 

[jrydberg]

For the most part, yes it is spelled out. This part goes to Social Security, this part goes to Medicare, this part is your income tax being withheld (that, of course, doesn't get broken down).

 

[jmmom80]

Originally posted by DarrenSt
So do they spellout to you exactly what every penny of your deductions go to for the govt when they take it out. I must admit I have not looked at the links posted so if it is in there I do appologise for that. I mean they could take the taxes off and divert it to any number of things without ever tellign anyone what the money is actually going to.

income tax withholding is just that - prepayment of federal income tax. whatever they deduct during the year is written in on the federal tax form and once the tax due is figured, the taxpayer either writes a check for the amount still owed or is issued a refund for the amount over paid. of course we don't get a statement telling us what every penny is used for, but there is no specific employee contribution at the federal level to unemployment insurance.

social security and medicare are a set percentage of the employee's gross pay and is used to calculate future benefits. again, there is no percentage of the fica tax that is set aside as an individual employee account for unemployment.

I mean they could take the taxes off and divert it to any number of things without ever tellign anyone what the money is actually going to.

of course they could, but the income tax money goes into the general fund, where it is then divided up. the unemployment accounts are separate and there is no employee deduction at the federal level for that.

in canada, they deduct what, 2.1% for ei? we have nothing like that at the federal level.

 

[DarrenSt]

Ok so say they used the income tax portion to help fund it maybe they allready use it for soemthing like this if they are not spelling it out to you how would you ever know.

 

[jrydberg]

Because if they were doing that, some politician would pore over all the documentation and to make a name for himself/herself throw a fit over it. The books are fairly open in terms of our government budget numbers. If anyone's got the time and inclination to pore over it, they can get more information than they ever wanted to know about what money goes where.

 

[jmmom80]

Originally posted by DarrenSt
Ok so say they used the income tax portion to help fund it maybe they allready use it for soemthing like this if they are not spelling it out to you how would you ever know.

but they don't use the income tax portion to fund it. it is funded through employer contributions.

i don't know how to make it any clearer - it is in numerous links that have been posted. there is no employee contribution to unemployment insurance at the federal level.

 

[DarrenSt]

Exactly employer contributions so maybe the employer should pay a little less to that and more to you guys to subsidize the little extra they would take from you to cover the costs of a better EI mat leave system.

 

[sha_lyn]

I would like to know who provides all the great care for your babies when you all return to work? From what I have heard you do not have a great child care system. Since many studies have shown that the early years are extremely important for development, who is giving the great care to these children since their parents do not want to?

Don't you think you are jumping to huge conclusions? No one has said that parents don't want to take care of their children. What is said is that we do not want the government to pay someone for their choice to stay at home, even if that person (and others) would be paying into the system. There is a huge difference. I have been a SAHM for most of the last 15 1/2 years. I left work when PG with DS and aside from working 2 weeks for X-mas money, I have always been at home with my children. For several yrs I provide in home (my home)daycare. I now work 1 evening a week as an assistant Martial Arts instructor, working with my 15 DS, and, my 7 DD in the childrens class. DH pciks her up after her class, while DS teaches the Adult class that I am a student in. As I said before, I actually believe/support non paid extended parental leave. In the US most of us (libertarians and Rep especially) want less government, not more government.

 

[jrydberg]

But the unemployment system is funded fully by those contributions. One cannot add maternity leave to it without increasing contributions to the system. That means more tax. So the employer's tax will not lessen unless the employee is taxed to cover the gap in unemployment *and* cover the maternity leave.

Whether the employer pays or the employee pays, I don't want more taxes.

Your opinion is it is a better system. Great. My opinion is it's not.

 

[jmmom80]

Originally posted by DarrenSt
Exactly employer contributions so maybe the employer should pay a little less to that and more to you guys to subsidize the little extra they would take from you to cover the costs of a better EI mat leave system.

or maybe they should just leave it the way it is and not pay people when they choose to quit working.


my employer currently pays 6.2% of the first $7000 i make every year, or $434/year. why in the world would i want to be paid the additional $434/year just so that i could then turn over 2.1% of all of my pay ($808/year) to the government? that would just be stupid.

 

[DarrenSt]

Why lets see so that if you happen to have children and when they get older they have kids well your daughters anyhow they can have the pleasure of knowing they had the first year of thier childs life to be with them and help them grow rather than shipping them off to a daycare to be raised by strangers. Seems like a darn good idea to me.

 

[jmmom80]

Originally posted by DarrenSt
Why lets see so that if you happen to have children and when they get older they have kids well your daughters anyhow they can have the pleasure of knowing they had the first year of thier childs life to be with them and help them grow rather than shipping them off to a daycare to be raised by strangers. Seems like a darn good idea to me.

i have a daughter. if she wants to stay home with her future children, then she had better plan on having savings or an income from her husband, boyfriend or whatever to pay for it. i'm teaching my children personal responsibility, including being responsible for their own choices. if women want to stay home with their kids, great. but don't expect everyone else to pay for it.

i'm sorry that you can't see the point with me, i.e., what women choose to do when they have children is up to them, not me. it's also up to them to pay for it, not me.

 

[DarrenSt]

Oh I see your point and the point you are making is if you feel you need to have a kid you should suffer for it if you don't have the money to stay home and no one should look out for you if that is the case. as it was stated by somone before we look at it like this if we all pay for this why not use it and better the relationship and health etc of the mother and child for the betterment of society and it sure seems to be workign for us here.