parental leave in Norway

The other day [a couple weeks ago] I did some research about maternity leave-n-pay in Norway. Here's the scoup:

• You get a total of 47 weeks at 100% pay or 57 at 80% pay
• You earn up vacation time on the first 12 weeks of the leave when you take 100%, or 15 weeks if you take 80% pay
• Leave usually begins 3 weeks before your due date
• If you choose to work longer or if you give birth before your due date, you lose those days (meaning there is set a maximum of weeks, but there could three weeks less if you for example for some reason worked right up until your birth)
• You can have your leave start as early as 12 weeks before your due date, but the total is still then 47 weeks
• Because Judge isn't working and won't have worked long enough after we give birth, 100% of the weeks go to me

How sublime.

The next big question - as we are planning on moving to China next fall - was how it works if we move out of the country while I'm still in the midst of my leave. Answer was 'makes now difference where you are in the world, you continue to get paid the same as long as you qualify by working 6 of the 10 months before you give birth'.

And thus the calculating began, and when I was through I was giddy with joy...and then a second later felt ashamed of my giddiness, because 'money is just material' and isn't supposed to bring us joy right? If it gives us joy then we're attached and focused on it, no?

But hey, that's how I roll. The security money brings makes me happy. In fact it's one of the big reasons I wanted to give birth here, to be able to partake in the socialistic goodness both pre- and post-birth (pre-birth being if I feel unwell I can take paid leave and feel no qualms about it).

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