So many countries who are developmentally behind and not as affluent as America have some form of paid maternity/parental leave. When it comes to paid leave for mothers (and fathers), America is behind.
The Build Back Better Bill is a plan that includes various programs, including paid leave, that can financially help American citizens. Unfortunately, paid family leave is not a guarantee in this agenda. It’s been almost impossible to reach a deal but many democrats are hopeful that it will be reached this week.
Joe Biden recently said “It is down to four weeks… and, the reason it's down to four weeks? I can't get twelve weeks off.” A big player in this is Joe Manchin. Democrats and some senators, including and specifically Manchin, have been going back and forth on what is included in this bill overall. If paid leave is included, it will consist of four weeks, but it is up in the air right now.
Research has shown that it can take mothers up to two months to recover and an ideal leave is between three to six months. Twelve weeks is not even enough for a new parent to recover let alone four.
Questions:
Should paid leave be a higher priority for Americans? Why?
Why hasn’t paid leave been a more pressing issue in America?
What do you think paid leave should entail? Who gets it and for how long?
Sources:
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/huddle/2021/10/25/is-this-finally-the-week-494828
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/10/25/biden-reconciliation-infrastructure-congress/
5 comments:
I think that paid leave should definitely be a higher priority for Americans. Because almost every country offers it, it is not like there is no precedent for a working system to offer paid leave. Taking care of an infant is a full time job in itself, and for those who can't afford to take an unpaid leave, paying for childcare services might not be easy either. Paid leave is a necessity for our country.
As for how long the leave should be and who should benefit from it, I believe that it should be around the ballpark of 12 weeks, even though achieving any interval of paid leave would be an improvement. Federal workers in the United States are given 12 weeks, so I think this should extend to all workers. This is still way lower than the average 29 weeks of paid maternity leave globally. I think that this kind of care should also extend to both parents, to lessen the workload on one. As we've seen in Covid, the societal expectation that women should take care of children and the home can place a heavy burden of taking care of all domestic work while also trying to balance a full-time job. These gender norms can also be detrimental to new fathers who are not extended the same generosity when it comes to paid leave.I think both parents should be included in this leave. Paid leave should include taking care of new children as well as sick family members or a worker's own illness. The pay doesn't need to be 100% of the salary, as I think (but correct me if I am wrong) that some other countries have a system where the paid leave is less than the salary if you were going into work but still a significant amount.
These are the times when people most rely on the money for their jobs, and they should be able to take the necessary time off to take care of themselves and their families.
I think paid leave should definitely be a higher priority for Americans because without it, mothers are left in extremely precarious economic situations, especially those who are single mothers and/or near the poverty line. Medically speaking, pregnancy and childbirth takes a significant amount of time to recover from, let alone the extra time needed to breastfeed, take care of, and bond with the baby. Four weeks isn't nearly enough, but it would be an improvement over most states which have no paid maternity leave at all.
Paid leave isn't a more pressing issue for a variety of reasons, but a primary factor behind this lack of concern is almost certainly misogyny and the accompanying gender norms. When childbirth and pregnancy is viewed as something that women “naturally” do, and are "designed" to do, the effect on the mother and the recovery time needed are both severely underestimated.
But this goes beyond just the lack of paid maternity leave—women have historically been discriminated against in the medical industry, and there is a massive lack of research on conditions that only affect female bodies, particularly those regarding the female reproductive system. The male body is often considered the default in clinical trials, despite women slightly outnumbering men population-wise.
For example, the COVID-19 vaccine was found to have side effects ranging from minor to severe on the menstrual cycles of some women, none of which were disclosed beforehand. This is because during clinical trials, researchers didn’t bother asking participants about any changes in their menstrual cycles, meaning side effects unique to women weren’t just missed, they weren’t even in consideration.
Naturally, this pattern surrounding women’s healthcare leads to pregnancy and childbirth being misunderstood topics too, and if the medical industry doesn't fully understand it, then government officials definitely don't. There is a concerning amount of misinformation and lack of research regarding women’s anatomy, and the laws follow suit. Until women’s health is taken more seriously, laws like paid maternity leave will almost certainly continue to be a low priority on the government’s agenda.
I think the United States has been stuck in ideology that places women who are mothers firmly in the domestic sphere. Many people would probably disagree with this and say that "women are becoming CEO's and doctors," and while that's true, the question is at what cost? Many successful women have reported that they put future family on hold in order to achieve their career goals, and it's sad that the culture has made women choose between the two. The amount of pushback on bills like this just further highlight the problem that maintains this cultural practice in the US.
I think paid leave for families should be a higher priority in the US because it'll first help take the whole weight of child care of women as traditional maternity leave has, and it's also just a decent thing to do. In so many other countries, families are given time to adjust, but in the US, no work means no money, which means no way to support the family, which of course means going back to work is the prioritized. I understand that giving family's an excessive amount of paid leave is just unproductive for employers, but I don't think that twelve weeks is asking for too much. Having a kid brings about a complete change of life, and forcing people (including women who are not 100% medically healed) back into work because of financial circumstances just shows the overbearing power that working culture has on American's values and way of life.
Like my classmates above, I also think that paid family leave should be a higher priority in the U.S. I’m not completely sure why it’s not a priority but I think one reason could be that it seems like American society has a very work-centered culture whereas a lot of other cultures around the globe put a larger emphasis on family rather than mainly focusing on careers. Sometimes, unfortunately this career focus is necessary for those who have financial struggles and can’t spend as much time with their families as they’d like. I think this struggle between career and family is another reason why paid family leave should be a priority. I also noticed that a lot of companies that do offer better paid family leave are bigger tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook. However, paid family leave shouldn’t just be for big tech employees. It should be available to people no matter what their job is. The average paid family leave in countries with similar economies to the U.S. is about 18 weeks so I think it would be good for the U.S. to at least reach this standard. Unfortunately, like most policies, paid family leave requirements will probably take a long time to pass through the government because of political gridlock. However, I think if the public takes a strong stance on it and is consistently sharing their beliefs with politicians, a change can eventually come.
Research links:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/the-best-and-worst-companies-for-new-moms-and-dads-in-silicon-valley/386384/
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/verify/government-verify/paid-family-maternity-leave-united-states-one-of-handful-countries-without-guarantee/536-d24f5921-835a-4c48-ae90-a0bbb00c5b77#:~:text=The%20average%20length%20of%20direct,to%20one%20or%20both%20parents.
I'm slightly torn on how I would rank the issue of paid family leave in America because I feel like certain things are of more importance. For example, the conflict between China and Taiwan is a lot more concerning than increasing the accessibility/benefits of paid leave. I guess this ties into the question asking why it's not on many people minds if you were to ask them about their opinion on pressing issues. The media has been known to focus exclusively on issues that create drama or highlight national/international conflict. In turn, many people are either oblivious to or don't prioritize the issue because (at least in my experience) there is little to no media coverage on the issue.
However, Audrey makes a good point on how the lack of paid leave can affect families (especially women/mothers). Mothers who have to face the burden of raising children alone, in addition to potentially living in poverty, are in extreme need of financial assistance. As a result, I think they should be prioritized in terms of who gets paid leave, especially since they have the most to lose/manage when taking leave from work.
I agree with Zara on the extension of paid leave to 12 weeks. This would prove to be least controversial if any change were to be made since it would put everyone on an even playing field with federal workers. As I mentioned before, priority should go to mothers who have recently given birth and single-parents. I agree that paid leave should be extended to both parents, however, not to the same extent. This way, the most needy receive somewhat proper compensation while providing some assistance to everyone else.
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