Parents are your most productive employees. They are the only ones who are making more employees.
Yes, but it's better for the state to pay it so that because if companies pay maternity leaves completely, the cost is not distributed evenly.
>The continued existence of the species through childbirth is something that organizations should really factor into their budgets.
I disagree, that should be the responsibility of the state and individual families.
>Is not exactly a difficult cost to foresee as people have been doing it for quite a while now.
It's a cost that is easy to foresee if your company is large. If the company consists of 1-2 employees, the company can go bankrupt from the costs. I've talked to an entrepreneur whose company actually did go bankrupt from maternity leave costs.
edit - I am not against the state picking up the tab, by the way. I just think it is one of those costs that could be paid either way and I have limited sympathy for employers who complain that they couldn't possibly be expected to plan for the eventuality that some of their employees might become parents.