This sort of qns must ask lah,,its the corporate welfare mah,,,I mean u dont want to hire a chick that is preggy right? or intend to have kids in 6mths,,,and also in spore,,maternity leave is paid by companies and in ang mor lands its paid for by gahmen,,,so in ang mor land they not that fuss as if the bird goes on preggy leave,,the company dont pay,,,but of course got to get people to cover etc,,,and alot of women abuse the maternity leave system,,,many stories in this forum,,,that is why i dont hire newly married women and mom's with young kids,..too much headaches like my kid sick got to bring to Dr and all that BS,..if no ability to not work for the 1st 4 years of a kids life,,than dont have kids..
but i have seen women with young kids doing damn well at work as they keep their personal and professional life seperate,,,so all in all its up to the women,,but i thought birth rates are dropping?? so soon maternity etc will be a thing of the past,,