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Maternity Leave: Why it Matters, Why We Need More
The United States lags behind its counterparts in the wealthy, developed world on many measures, not least of which is how it treats new moms. In the United States, only twelve percent of women have access to paid maternity leave of any length (Froese 1). The six weeks of paid maternity leave I receive from my company might be better than most Americans get, but it is still not at all enough and can lead to serious health problems for both mom and baby, as well as to more generalized societal ills. Research also reveals that current maternity leave programs in the United States reflect gross inequalities along the intersections between race, class, and gender, exacerbating income disparities (May 1). The United States should therefore adopt a more sensible, rights-based maternity leave policy, modeled after the successful programs already in place in other countries with robust economies.
Generous paid maternity leave policies benefit the entire society, not just mom and baby. As Ingraham points out, having children “is a necessary condition for our biological and economic survival,” and is therefore in the best interests of the government to foster economic growth through...
Among the nations that provide long periods of paid maternity leave, all are wealthy including Finland, Norway, Canada, and Japan (England 1; Ingraham 1). A person does not need to be poor to realize that insufficient paid leave will lead to the incursion of debt, decreased employee morale, and a cascade of problems both psychological and social. Raising children is exorbitantly expensive, as any new parent can attest, and those who need help during the critical first few years of the baby’s life receive the least amount of financial support from either the private or the public sector. Maternity leave is therefore beneficial for society in the way that it helps create a healthier, wealthier next generation of Americans.
Long maternity leave programs can be synchronized with the needs of companies to cost-effectively manage their human resources. For example, companies can offer new mothers the opportunity to work from home. Contract and temporary positions that fill the role of the new mother can easily be filled. Yet major American corporations, from Walmart to Starkbucks, have unjust and irrational policies that provide zero paid maternity leave days for new mothers (or…
The Benefits of Paid Maternity Leave Introduction While women have earned their way into the workplace to be treated as equals alongside men, part of what still makes women unique is their ability to be mothers and to carry a child. Mothers play an integral role in society, especially in the early days of when a child is born: the mother is the nurturer, the consoler, the shelter, and the provider. The
Leave Becoming a new mother can be very exciting as well as very stressful. Many soon-to-be mothers worry about having enough time to spend with the child, being financially stable, and if their jobs would allow them to take off if needed. In today's workforce; is there really enough time set for maternity leave? Employers can be very demanding and not be aware of how motherhood truly affects women. Employers should
Though the employee's husband did spend nearly four weeks being involved in the healing ministry, "nearly half of the trip was spent not in faith healing, but visiting friends, family, and local churches" (FEPG). The bottom line is that the FMLA won't permit employees to take leave when it is a vacation with a "seriously ill spouse" -- even if caring for the spouse is an "incidental consequence" of bringing
The lack of paternity leave does not promote greater flexibility for employers and employees to agree on the most suitable way to balance work and domestic needs without interference from the government. Why Fathers Should Get More Paternity Leave: Despite of the stigma associated with men's involvement in child care and domestic issues, fathers should get more paternity leave because of the benefits of taking some time off after the birth
Family Medical Leave Act Before the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law in 1993, the United States was among the few industrialized nations with no such legislation in place. Employees had to make do with piecemeal legislation, such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act or with leaves won through union contracts or policies with more enlightened employers. The FMLA, however, was a controversial piece of legislation. On one side, employers
Families these days are "in crisis" because all of us have lost a lot of values that used to keep a family together (Kim, 2000). In addition, Coontz very analytically eliminated all the myths about what families used to be, how & what they are in the current time, and what they should be (Kim, 2000). However, as a reader one might notice just little discrepancy in her dispute and