The key to a successful country is its ability to continually progress forward. Yet the United States always seems to be behind other countries. For instance, women in the United States received the right to vote in 1920 but women in New Zealand started voting in 1893. Denmark was the first country to legalize same sex unions in 1989 but it wasn’t until 2015 that the United States legalized same sex marriage. If the United States wants to continue being a country who boasts “rights” and “world power” they need to create policies and laws that benefit its citizens, similar to ones found in Europe, specifically Nordic and Scandinavian countries. The Nordic region is comprised of four countries in the Arctic circle, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and
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The United States has failed to make sure employees have access to paid leave, while the rest of the modern world offers at least some leave. President Obama, in his State of the Union address, said that, “‘We are the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers. Forty-three million workers have no paid sick leave. . .’”(qtd. in Sandler). This number is astounding because family and sick leave in other countries is considered one of the basic rights that every working parent should have, and this number has consequences for employees in the United States. Figure 1 from the World Policy Analytics Center at UCLA shows how many countries have family leave while the U.S. does not. The United States is so far behind when it comes to family leave that, in fact, only Rhode Island, New Jersey, and California require paid leave (Sandler). With mothers staying home to take care of their newborns, the children are safer, healthier, and happier. Family leave has also been proven to lessen the infant mortality rate (Deahl). According to Joey Heymann, founding director of the World Policy Analysis Center at UCLA, “‘For a high-income country, we have some of the worst outcomes for our infants. We have some of the highest rates of infant mortality’”(qtd. in Deahl). In addition to the benefits to the children, mothers and fathers that receive family leave also receive benefits. Women who take time off of work to have children lose progress of their careers and money that they typically would receive while working. With society encouraging women to take time off work to care for children in a traditional, stay-at-home way, women fall farther behind their male counterparts in their career and do not
The United States has failed to make sure employees have access to paid leave, while the rest of the modern world offers at least some leave. President Obama, in his State of the Union address, said that, “‘We are the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers. Forty-three million workers have no paid sick leave. . .’”(qtd. in Sandler). This number is astounding because family and sick leave in other countries is considered one of the basic rights that every working parent should have, and this number has consequences for employees in the United States. Figure 1 from the World Policy Analytics Center at UCLA shows how many countries have family leave while the U.S. does not. The United States is so far behind when it comes to family leave that, in fact, only Rhode Island, New Jersey, and California require paid leave (Sandler). With mothers staying home to take care of their newborns, the children are safer, healthier, and happier. Family leave has also been proven to lessen the infant mortality rate (Deahl). According to Joey Heymann, founding director of the World Policy Analysis Center at UCLA, “‘For a high-income country, we have some of the worst outcomes for our infants. We have some of the highest rates of infant mortality’”(qtd. in Deahl). In addition to the benefits to the children, mothers and fathers that receive family leave also receive benefits. Women who take time off of work to have children lose progress of their careers and money that they typically would receive while working. With society encouraging women to take time off work to care for children in a traditional, stay-at-home way, women fall farther behind their male counterparts in their career and do not