Paid Family Leave


The only country in the so-called developed world that doesn't mandate paid maternity leave is the United States. In fact, only 14% of civilian workers in the US have access to any amount of paid parental leave. While Bill Clinton signed the  Family and Medical Leave Act into law, this only guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid leave. 
Image result for family and medical leave act
The financial well-being of households is further weakened by a lack of paid family leave as the average household income drops by 10% after a child's birth. Single-mother households are disproportionately affected; their average income drops by 42% at the time of childbirth.
So how exactly does the United States compare to other countries? Finland is on the other extreme; mothers receive up to three years of paid leave. More moderately, the United Kingdom mandates up to 39 weeks and Canada requires up to one year.

Christopher Ingraham for The Washington Post maintains that paid maternity leave is necessary to strengthen the economy -- having more children creates a greater income for social security and is necessary for future investments and innovation. With declining birth rates in the United States, paid maternity leave might be the push that prevents working women from choosing between children and their careers. Paid maternity or paid leave for new fathers would help more women join the labor force. Women with minor children would like to work but are prevented; in 2012 a Pew Research Center survey found that 79% of these women would like to be working at least part-time.








Sources
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/05/the-worlds-richest-countries-guarantee-mothers-more-than-a-year-of-paid-maternity-leave-the-u-s-guarantees-them-nothing/?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethferrante/2019/01/10/in-the-fight-for-paid-parental-leave-6-months-should-be-the-minimum/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-paid-family-leave-womens-issue-economic-rampell-0219-20190215-story.html
https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2019 at 8:48 PM

    Super interesting article! I completely agree that paid maternity leave is something that the United States should move towards as we see that we are the only "developed" country that doesn't have this paid maternity leave. When you mentioned this, I wanted to understand the why behind it. Why do we not have paid maternity leave when there are so many benefits to this. According to one article, this why comes down to "the values we place in individualism and business." With these values, we place more importance on working hard for your own self to achieve your own goals. This falls in line with the American Dream that states that if we work hard enough, we can be successful. Obviously, this acts against the paid maternity leave as someone shouldn't get to be successful without that hard work we so value. But, ideals are shifting, and hopefully paid maternity leave can come into the scene soon.

    Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-america-doesnt-have-paid-leave-2017-9

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