The U.S.’s current parental leave policy leads to widespread poverty in families, contradicting the UN sustainable goal of no poverty. In the Maternal and Child Health journal, Jorddan, a mother describes her maternity leave experiences in the United States. She explains that “after the birth of my third child, I utilized my accumulated vacation to stay at home for 10 days. After that time ran out, I had to return to work or we wouldn’t have been able to pay the basic necessities of utilities, water, rent, food, gas, etc.’–Jorddan” (Rowe-Finkbeiner, Martin, Abrams, Zuccaro and Dardari 2). Jorddan was barely able to afford her basic needs while using her paid vacation days. She was only able to take ten days off, which is an incredibly short amount of time.
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Additionally only a fifth of poor, women of color, and high school educated people are able to take more than just a few days off from work. This is the same for new parents, who arguably need time off more than others as they have to acclimate to children. Since these individuals have to leave young children, they must find a way to care for them. Thus, many parents are left with the option of enrolling their child in daycare. Harry J. Holzer, a subject matter expert and writer for the American Economic Institute describes the financial burden that comes with child care. He explains that “the sky-high cost of childcare, which now amounts to more than college in most states, and sets families back financially for years to come. This is one reason why a quarter of young families are living in poverty (Belkin 2010)” (Holzer 3) . Countless families must pay for child care, a major expense, and must to return to work in order to get paid. Therefore, the United States’ current parental leave policy is directly correlated to high amounts poverty. However, a paid leave policy prevents these economic issues and their
Additionally only a fifth of poor, women of color, and high school educated people are able to take more than just a few days off from work. This is the same for new parents, who arguably need time off more than others as they have to acclimate to children. Since these individuals have to leave young children, they must find a way to care for them. Thus, many parents are left with the option of enrolling their child in daycare. Harry J. Holzer, a subject matter expert and writer for the American Economic Institute describes the financial burden that comes with child care. He explains that “the sky-high cost of childcare, which now amounts to more than college in most states, and sets families back financially for years to come. This is one reason why a quarter of young families are living in poverty (Belkin 2010)” (Holzer 3) . Countless families must pay for child care, a major expense, and must to return to work in order to get paid. Therefore, the United States’ current parental leave policy is directly correlated to high amounts poverty. However, a paid leave policy prevents these economic issues and their