Paid Maternity Leave in the United States
From the abject misery of Haiti, past the streets of Afghanistan, and to the slums of Djibouti, working women and men all have something in common; paid maternity leave. The poorest and most corrupt nations in the world, along with the most advanced and modernized, all have laws in place for ensuring pay when a mother has a child (Lerner). Most of the countries in the world have caught on to this necessary enforcement for working families, with an exception of Swaziland, Papua New Guinea, and The United States of America. As one of the most powerful nations in the world, the United States has one of the most insubstantial systems for pregnant mothers in the work force; no paid maternity leave. The …show more content…
Nonetheless, many employers believe that compensating women while they're on maternity leave is going to financially burden their organization, and be detrimental towards their efforts. Oddly enough, paying your employees on their maternity leave can actually be beneficial for business. A survey lead by the Center for Economic and Policy Research in 2011 stated that 91% of employers in California that ensured paid leave, found that the policy either boosted their profits, or had no changing effect (Wojcicki). Large companies such as Google, Netflix, Adobe, and Facebook, all have the perk of paid maternity leave for their employees. Susan Wojcicki, an employee at Google and the CEO of YouTube, explains the benefits that paid leave provides for her and her coworkers. She writes, "I know from experience that being a mother gave me a broader sense of purpose, more compassion and a better ability to prioritize and get things done efficiently." Wojcicki, unlike the majority of working women in the United States, could most likely support herself during leave without pay. Despite this, Wojcicki makes it apparent that mothers who return back to work early due to financial issues, will not receive these same motherly attributes that she acquired, and ultimately fail to better their …show more content…
Minnesota senator Ellen Anderson has been an advocate for paid leave not only in the state, but throughout the country. She proposes a paid maternity and adoption leave program using an unemployment insurance tax, by cutting into its tax rate (Calvo). Along with Anderson, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, and the Center for Defense Information have stated that the U.S. military budget could be cut by more than $150 billion a year without sacrificing high levels of military readiness (Gornick, Meyers). These proposals, similar to Anderson's, show innovation and strategy as they call on our country to stand up and put in effort towards making paid leave a standard. Anderson claims, "If you support family values, you should support this," she said. "The problem is that people want free family values, not those that cost money"
From the abject misery of Haiti, past the streets of Afghanistan, and to the slums of Djibouti, working women and men all have something in common; paid maternity leave. The poorest and most corrupt nations in the world, along with the most advanced and modernized, all have laws in place for ensuring pay when a mother has a child (Lerner). Most of the countries in the world have caught on to this necessary enforcement for working families, with an exception of Swaziland, Papua New Guinea, and The United States of America. As one of the most powerful nations in the world, the United States has one of the most insubstantial systems for pregnant mothers in the work force; no paid maternity leave. The …show more content…
Nonetheless, many employers believe that compensating women while they're on maternity leave is going to financially burden their organization, and be detrimental towards their efforts. Oddly enough, paying your employees on their maternity leave can actually be beneficial for business. A survey lead by the Center for Economic and Policy Research in 2011 stated that 91% of employers in California that ensured paid leave, found that the policy either boosted their profits, or had no changing effect (Wojcicki). Large companies such as Google, Netflix, Adobe, and Facebook, all have the perk of paid maternity leave for their employees. Susan Wojcicki, an employee at Google and the CEO of YouTube, explains the benefits that paid leave provides for her and her coworkers. She writes, "I know from experience that being a mother gave me a broader sense of purpose, more compassion and a better ability to prioritize and get things done efficiently." Wojcicki, unlike the majority of working women in the United States, could most likely support herself during leave without pay. Despite this, Wojcicki makes it apparent that mothers who return back to work early due to financial issues, will not receive these same motherly attributes that she acquired, and ultimately fail to better their …show more content…
Minnesota senator Ellen Anderson has been an advocate for paid leave not only in the state, but throughout the country. She proposes a paid maternity and adoption leave program using an unemployment insurance tax, by cutting into its tax rate (Calvo). Along with Anderson, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, and the Center for Defense Information have stated that the U.S. military budget could be cut by more than $150 billion a year without sacrificing high levels of military readiness (Gornick, Meyers). These proposals, similar to Anderson's, show innovation and strategy as they call on our country to stand up and put in effort towards making paid leave a standard. Anderson claims, "If you support family values, you should support this," she said. "The problem is that people want free family values, not those that cost money"