The United States is failing women in many ways. One of the primary ways that limits women in America is the lack of paid maternity leave offered in the country. The United States is one of the few nations that does not present any sort of leave and because of it, children are suffering and productivity is declining. See the full list of countries and corresponding maternity leave here.
In a recent study of 181 nations conducted by Harvard and McGill Universities, the U.S. was one of three nations that does not guarantee working mothers leave with compensation. The other two countries were Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.
“It’s absurd that we don’t have it,” said Janet Gornick, a professor and director of the Luxembourg Income Study Center at the City University of New York Graduate Center. “Our employment profile no longer looks very good for women overall. The absence of leave is part of the story.” In the U.S. — where 47 percent of the workforce is female, we have the Family Medical Leave Act. This 1993 law allows employees to take 12 unpaid weeks off and not lose their job. It is something, but not nearly enough. Most families cannot afford to live on one income for 12 weeks with the added expense of a newborn.
Some private corporations offer paid maternity leave, though the number is declining. In 1998, 27 percent of companies offered paid maternity leave. In 2008, this number had dropped to 16 percent, according to a study by the New York-based Families and Work Institute. In 2010, another survey of human resources managers at 534 companies by the Society for Human Resource Management found 17 percent offer leave with pay and another 7 percent plan to reduce or eliminate it within 12 months.
“If we don’t make motherhood and work compatible, there are long-term economic losses,” said Robert Drago, research director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington. They include productivity and earning power lost when women have to interrupt work and costs when employers have to find and train replacements, he said.
Some politicians have tried to remedy this but with little political support. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has introduced a bill that would provide paid maternity leave to federal employees. She has introduced this bill every year since she was elected to Congress in 2000. Her bill likely will not be voted on this year. Her measure would cost an additional $938 million over five years in salaries the U.S. doesn’t now have to pay when new parents stay home, the Congressional Budget Office concluded. However, other reports suggest that paying women for maternity leave could actually save money in the long-run because it would encourage women to stay in the federal workplace and reduce the costs of hiring and retraining replacements.
It is difficult for women to get ahead when laws continually make it more challenging to do so. No one is asking for a free ride. The system is set up to keep women and middle class families down. Republicans like families and encourage women to have children. Because of the growing income gap, most families require two incomes. Women often have no choice but to work. It is getting to a point where couples have to decide between kids or being able to survive financially. That is not okay.
On The Web
- Maternity Leave and Human Rights (parenting.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Family values not so valuable (lisethamming.wordpress.com)
- Planning for Maternity Leave (everydayhealth.com)
- The Debate on Maternity Leave (kezizblog.wordpress.com)
