Modernizing U.S. Parental Leave: The Case for Reform

Introduction: America's Parental Leave Problem

Americans pride themselves on their high standing in the developed world. The United States has a strong government, a premier military, a vibrant and diverse culture, and a significant presence in the world economy. Despite these advantages, many Americans find themselves woefully behind other nations regarding an issue that should lie at the heart of society — how we value our children and how we treat those responsible for raising them. During the rapid growth of the American economy in the 20th century, the impact of a competitive and demanding job market on working parents was rarely acknowledged, let alone legislated. As a result, America now finds itself among only three other nations — Swaziland, Papua New Guinea, and Lesotho — that refuse to provide government-mandated paid parental leave to parents with newborns (Moms Rising). This has placed significant stress not only on the mental, emotional, and financial well-being of working parents, but also on the physical and behavioral development of the nation's children. Unless we reform the policies that govern our treatment of these parents and their children, we risk stifling our future potential and undermining the work ethic that has long fueled our national growth.

A Brief History of Family Leave Legislation

The history of job-protected family leave in the United States is relatively short. Before 1993, whether a new mother could take time off work to care for her newborn without risking her job was entirely subject to the discretion of her employer or the laws of the state in which she worked (Berger et al. 31). Though federal law had been protecting workers' rights for decades, no federal statute existed that protected a woman's right to take leave when giving birth, recovering, and caring for her newborn. This changed with the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. The FMLA mandated job-protected family and medical leave for "qualifying" employees.

The Weaknesses of the FMLA

Though the FMLA was an important step in protecting parental rights in the workplace, the act had — and continues to have — several weaknesses that render it inadequate. In order to "qualify" for FMLA, an employee must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the prior year for an employer with 50 or more employees. These two conditions exclude roughly 50% of working parents (Berger et al. 30). Another significant weakness is that the FMLA offers only job protection to those on family or medical leave; it does not require any employer to offer paid leave. This leaves many parents scrambling to piece together paid time off from unused sick days, vacation time, and — if they are fortunate — disability insurance. Fifty-one percent of working mothers do not have access to any form of paid leave, and find themselves either returning to work shortly after giving birth, absorbing the financial loss of unpaid leave, or leaving the workforce altogether (Moms Rising).

As a result of these shortcomings, the FMLA has been largely ineffective in providing the security to working parents it was designed to offer. Although the act mandates 12 weeks of job-protected leave following the birth of a child, a 2000 study by the U.S. Department of Labor found that the actual median length of maternity leave in America was only 10 days. The same survey found that 3.5 million workers in 2000 were unable to take leave, even though they needed it and were eligible for it. Three-quarters of those workers did not take leave because they could not afford it (Vahratian 177).