Just as all of a community benefits when all mothers breastfeed (less illess, potentially higher IQ, etc) So all of a community benefits when all members have health care and social benefits such as maternity leave. There has been some very interesting work easily available demonstrating that the flatter the socioeconomic gradient the better ALL of the members of the community do in terms of life span and wellness. Pulling the lower end up raises the upper end. I keep this prominently in my mind when we pay our 1/3 (like Jack :). SO you want to increase the life span and wellness of the top quartile of the population? provide better benefits to the lowest quartile...and of course support breastfeeding and milk banks Rhoda Taylor, B.A., IBCLC Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html