Categories: Need to know

Double the kids, double the money

Parents with twins are eligible for two-times the parental leave

by macleans.ca on Friday, September 18, 2009 11:25am - 10 Comments

An Ottawa couple with twin girls has convinced the government that both mom and dad deserve full parental leave. In a groundbreaking decision, Christian Martin and Paula Critchley successfully argued that each should be able to claim full Employment Insurance benefits for one of the children, born in April. The department originally denied the claim, but it was overturned by the Employment Insurance Board of Referees. “I believe this issue to be one of fairness,” Martin said. “It is not about multiple birth parents getting more benefits than parents of single births, but rather to get the equivalent treatment since there are more babies to care for. Caring for two or more babies at once brings a lot of joy, but it is also very difficult, as I am sure most people can appreciate.” It is unclear whether the decision must be followed in all cases of multiple births.

CBC.ca

Tags: Canada

http://intensedebate.com/people/Nich Nich

Good logic from Mr. Martin.

Congrats! (on winning your case and birth of healthy twins)
http://intensedebate.com/people/coastlogger coastlogger

There is no end of ways people find to spend taxpayers money and avoid working. There are thousands of laid off loggers on the coast who are running out of EI and there are zero job prospects on the horizon but a couple in Ontario get a 35 week paid vacation. Maternity leave is not fair to either the businesses they work for or the temp workers that must be hired to replace them. If you want to time off to raise kids quit your job so that someone that wants to work can have it.

Evalina

OMG are you a complete idiot??
Ya, let's such have women stay at home like good little housewives and contribute nothing else to society!
You moron, chauvenist pig, are you stuck in the 1950s?

http://intensedebate.com/people/coastlogger coastlogger

Who said anything about women staying home and raising kids, except you?. If you are not prepared to support a family don't have one. We have double digit deficit , triple digit debt and outrageous taxes. Yet you freeloading socialists want a free holiday for more than half a year. Can you pronounce STUPID?

Evalina

It's not a free holiday, when you leave work and care for twins in the first few months of their lives. Clearly you have no idea what that is like. You don't sleep for a good 5 months. And these women do go back to work, what's wrong with that?
''If you are not prepared to support a family don't have one": Please explain how someone is supposed to support a family is they do not work and do not receive EI benefits? How else are you supposed to make money, gambling online?

scf

It's a wonder the human race ever survived before EI was invented. I wonder how animals survive without EI.

fuddleduddle

coastlogger, you sound like somebody who is a capitalist free market person ..well it should go for laid off loggers too .. laid off loggers can get another job or move somewhere they can …like the fisheries the taxpayer shouldn't be stuck propping up one industry or another ..in regards to twins, i 100% support people getting double the EI…if the rules are made for one baby and you have two, by basic math you should get double

http://intensedebate.com/people/coastlogger coastlogger

There is a difference to being laid off when your industry tanks or you are ill and cannot work and freeloading because you choose to have kids. EI was set up for short term help for those who lost their jobs not to take a paid holiday because you don't feel like working. The rest of us managed to work and raise a family. It is about life choices. By your basic math triplets should get three times regular EI. With all the freeloaders with their sense of entitlement its No wonder our governments are in serious debt even though we are being taxed to death. But then if you don't mind having your grandchildren pay for your freebees today I guess its OK.

u2fan

So why dont loggers go and do what everyone else does when the industry dries up? Train for something else….that is what I did….and I didn't wait for government support….

This is not freeloading.

u2fan

As a recent parent of twins…this is a really nice option, although I can't say that I would take it. Understand that the 2 people involved here were employed by the government, which means they recieve almost full pay due to the top-up they recieve.

At 55% of my salary, I cant say Im signing up, however, would be nice to let the mother stay home for 2 years instead of 1.