This discussion appears to have digressed into a man vs. woman discussion.

I would agree that as a whole, the USA has made child rearing a choice and provided limited support to encourage child birth. I do not agree that there is an unequal support for a female vs. a male parent.

why is there so much conversation about 'mooching' and 'freeriding'
when good 'taxpayers' speak about how their money is wasted

and so little about the parents who walk off into a new life with no responsibility ,,

,,I have to agree with Estelle, though I love men, its not about men being terrible, its about some of societies hateful and condescending attitudes towards women

,,there are also areas where men are treated inferior,, but when it comes to the DISDAIN And HATRED,, I think mothers who struggle get it the worst...

Who has disdain and hatred for mothers who struggle? Nobody that I know of.

Back when my late wife and I were planning to have a child, she and I prepared financially.
Thus, during the few weeks that she took a leave of absence from work without pay, she and I didn't suffer financially.

you don't read close enough then,,,,

but your desire to just see the good is ,,,,sweet

a few weeks of a plan by two people is not the subject here,,,

As a result of planning, my late wife wasn't in need of a paid leave of absence.

in what part of that 'planning' or leave was she a SINGLE MOM?

My late wife was wise enough not to choose to become a single mom.

It is one thing for a married woman to unexpectedly become a widowed mother.
It is another thing for a single woman to choose to become a single mom because she chose to be sexually active.

Now, which situation is the topic here?

what about the thing where a woman chooses to become a parent with a partner,, who later is no longer choosing to be a partner?

that is the situation,,,,,,,

the situation most of those shown disdain and derided for having the lack of character to find themselves in a struggle requiring assistance,,,

while the parent who chooses to just fade out and start over looking out for themselves,, slides off into society ,,,,

Your laws on maternity leave are crazy?? You get 52 weeks PAID leave over here by law! I should know because my wife is already 5 months into hers!!

If you are talking about a married couple, then how often does a married man divorce his wife during her pregnancy or shortly after child-birth?

Then there are the single women who set themselves up for trouble by expecting their boyfriends to act like husbands without actually being husbands. Such trouble is a consequence of a disdain for marriage.

Plus you have higher prices in order to pay for that paid leave.
There is always a trade-off somehow.

people aren't seeking assistance only 'shortly' after childbirth

at any time in the 18 or more years that a child is growing up,, a situation can change that leaves the mother to fend for herself while the man walks away,,,,and then they are derided for seeking financial assistance as if they had control over the fact that the man turned out to be a deadbeat,,,,

it does not take being a husband to be a father,,, that is the relationship between the adult and the child,,,and very well should be expected regardless of what adult that parent has with other adults,,,,

The complaint is that women in the USA don't generally receive paid maternity leave.

There is already in the USA public assistance for single parents who are in need of financial assistance.

not if they are still employed,, which those on maternity leave are

My late wife was able to get WIC assistance, and she was still employed.

Anyway, how did human beings manage to survive for numerous millennia without paid maternity leave?

millennia?...lol

only just recently in human history have women needed to go out of the home to work

so they were already home with the kids and during their pregnancy

and they made that work

with smaller closer communities

and

with set roles and husbands who provided for their family so women didn't need maternity leave from a job

,,,,for starters

Yep, women are better off becoming pregnant after they acquire husbands.

A single woman is asking for trouble if she expects a boyfriend to act like a husband without actually being a husband.

no offense but that's quite a ridiculous excuse for how they are treated

if a man helped make the child, whether he is husband or boyfriend means nuts all

and if he doesn't behave like a FATHER< regardless of being a husband or boyfriend,, he is the one who should have the stigma on his shoulders,, not the woman/mother/husband/girlfriend, or whatever , that stays on to try to do it all on her own

I have a 'husband' and he does crap all for his kids

I have an ex (no longer my husband) who is there for his child

the label in the adult relationship has nothing to do with the responsibility as a parent or the likelihood that it will be met,,,thats all about a mans sense of responsibility fo rhis kids, which doesn't require any government paper to exist,,,