Newsweek ran a troubling and contradictory article last week, entitled “Stuck In Place: The Myth of Women’s Equality in Europe.” (Thanks Jeremy.)

In the US, when a woman has a baby, she is entitled to 3 months unpaid leave. If she wants her job waiting for her, she has to find a sitter, pop on those nipple pads, and pump in the bathroom. Some European countries offer as much as three years paid leave. They have state sponsored daycare. Part time work is plentiful.

Which is better, Newsweek asks.

Well, Newsweek tells me that the European model isn’t that great, because all those generous child leave policies mean that women take too much time off and never put in the time needed to get to the top of the career ladder. They end up with jobs, not careers. The representation of women in the top positions of business and politics is far lower than the U.S.

Newsweek didn’t prove to me that child leave policies are solely responsible for the lower numbers of women in positions of power. Europeans may have more traditional ideas about women; it’s possible for sexism to exist in economically liberal countries. (Later in the article, they sort of come around to that point.)

The goal of child-leave policies is to give parents options and balance. If parents wish to take time off, they can. If they want to return earlier and put in the hours necessary to reach the top of their profession, they can. You have to evaluate work-family programs based on how much flexibility it gives families and how content they are; these programs shouldn’t be evaluated based on how they enable women to achieve power. Most propopents of work-family balance recognize that balance might mean not making senior partner.

How women with kids can get ahead is a whole different topic, but one of the best ways is to have a stay at home dad.

The Newsweek article also goes on to say that Europe isn’t generous enough. There’s not enough childcare in Germany. The tax programs discourage second incomes. The workplace is excessively rigid and doesn’t offer enough flextime. What the hell is their point?

In bizarro world, the article proceeds to lecture European countries that they should do more to help working families. No inner thoughts about what we could learn from their example.

All things considered, I would rather be in Paris.

I know that Elizabeth has written about the Newsweek article, too. I didn’t peek at her post, yet. Let’s see if we got the same answer….