Eric Fluckiger

Instructor Christie Bogle

English 1010
Issue Exploration First Draft
Paid Parental Leave in America
The issue of paid parental leave is something that has been gaining traction in the United
States for several years. It is something that the U.S. has struggled with in comparison to many
developed European nations. While men and women in Europe are staying home with their
newborns for months at a time, and getting paid their regular (or close to regular) salary, parents
in the United States are having to drop their babies off at daycare at 4-6 weeks old. Many parents
cannot afford to stay home with their newborns, and this issue affects both mothers and fathers.
In the United States, Americans have a federal policy called the Family and Medical
Leave Act. It provides up to 12 weeks off, unpaid. This however, is not enough for most
Americans. To start, you must work for a company for with more than 50 employees and had to
have worked for that employer for at least 12 months, and for at least an average of 24 hours a
week (Wage and Hour Division). While some companies are starting to offer paid time off for
their employees who are new parents, according to Claire Cain Miller and David Streitfeld of the
New York Times in their article, Leaps in Leave, If Only Parents Would Take It, this only
covers 12% of employees working in the private sector.
Many experts look to Europe when weighing the options of what is possible in regards to
paid parental leave. According to a report by the European Parliamentary Research Service, not

only do most European countries offer pre- and postnatal leave at 100% pay, several have
mandatory leave for mothers of newborns. For example, for new mothers, Portugal offers 4
weeks fully paid prenatal time off and up to 13 weeks postnatal time off, with 6 weeks of the
postnatal time off as mandatory. For new fathers, they offer up to 4 weeks off at full pay after the
birth of the child, with two weeks being mandatory. Some countries offer up to a year of paid
time off for new mothers, at 90% of their salary.
The reasons that America is so behind Europe in paid parental leave is due to several
factors, which Danielle Kurtzleben of NPR points out in her article, Lots of Other Countries
Mandate Paid Leave. Why Not The U.S.?. She discusses the differences between American
Democracy and European Democracy. As Americans, we have never had a monarchy, so we are
less aware of our economic status or class. We are also much less involved in unions, making us
less likely to seek more socialist ideas like paid family leave. Also, after WWII, Europe was very
concerned with rebuilding their populations, and that is where many of their paid leave policies
got their start.
Policies relating to the issue of paid parental leave are coming into fruition in two places
in the U.S., state governments and private companies. California, New Jersey and Rhode Island
have state laws that require companies to pay a partial salary for four to six weeks to new parents
who choose to stay home with their babies. The Navy just presented a new policy that provides
the same for mothers. In regards to private company policies, many different tech companies are
leading the way by providing up to 16 weeks of paid leave for both mothers and fathers
(Waldfogel, WashingtonPost.com). Netflix is even offering their employees up to a year fully
paid for new mothers and fathers (Miller and Streitfeld, New York Times). Though these policies
do not reach everyone, it is a step in the right direction for Americans.

With these recent strides in policy, there still remains the issue of whether or not parents
will actually take the time off to care for their newborns. In Jane Waldfogels article, Why 16Week Paid Parental Leave Policies are Revolutionary for U.S. Workers, she lists the reasons
why many parents cannot or will not take the leave that is offered to them: 1) They cannot afford
to live on their partial salary, 2) Employers may frown upon those who take several months off,
3) Mothers and fathers fear that time off may affect their careers. Until these policies are widely
available to all Americans, it is likely that taking several months off will remain a taboo in
society and people will not fully utilize them.
There is, of course, and argument against implementing paid leave on a national level.
This year, Sen. Gillibrand (D-New York) and Rep. DeLauro (D-Connecticut) introduced a bill
called the FAMILY act, which would offer 12-weeks paid time off for workers. It would be paid
for through a .2% tax hike on employers and employees. It would be totally self-sufficient, and
not create more of a deficit for the United States (Mihelich, Workforce.com). Those who are
against policies like the FAMILY act worry that it would be a burden on businesses. It would
lead to more people taking more time off, and businesses just cannot afford to replace missing
workers. They believe it would lead to less equality in the workplace for women, because more
women will quit their jobs. Those against paid leave also usually oppose any sort of business tax
hike or federal regulation (Ghei, Newsweek.com). However, many studies show that employees
who feel they have a work/life balance are likely to be happy, more productive workers. Some
even show a trend in paid maternity leave actually increasing women in the workplace (Racine,
Bustle.com).
So why is paid parental leave such an important issue? It affects all families, and every
child born in the United States, and therefore has an impact on our country as a whole. A

students academic success in the Unites States is deeply tied to his or her socioeconomic status,
far more than in peer countries like Australia, Canada, and Britain, which offer up to a year of
paid parental leave. More paid parental leavecould narrow the educational achievement gap in
the United States (Waldfogel, WashingtonPost.com). The issue is far-reaching, even for
Americans who do not currently have children or plan on having children.

Works Cited
Ghei, Nita. The Argument Against Paid Family Leave. Newsweek. Newsweek, 04 August
2009. Web. 06 November 2015.
Jurviste, Ulla, Prpic, Martina, and Sabbait, Giulio. Maternity and Paternity Leave In The EU.
European Parliamentary Research Service, Dec. 2014. Web. 06 November 2015.
Kurtzleben, Danielle. Lots Of Other Countries Mandate Paid Leave. Why Not The U.S.?.
NPR. National Public Radio, 15 July 2015. Web. 06 November 2015.
Mihelich, Max. FAMILY ACT: A Baby Boon?. Workforce. n.p., 06 May 2014. Web. 06
November 2015.
Miller, Claire Cain, and Streitfeld, David. Leaps in Leave, If Only Parents Would Take It. New
York Times. New York Times, 02 September 2015. Web. 06 November 2015.
Racine, Hope. 6 Common Arguments Against Paid Maternity Leave & The Best Ways You Can
Counter Them. Bustle. n.p., 04 August 2015. Web. 06 November 2015.
Wage and Hour Division, United States Department of Labor. Need Time? The Employees
Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act. June 2015. Web. 06 November 2015.
Waldfogel, Jane. Why 16-Week Paid Parental Leave Policies are Revolutionary for U.S.
Workers. Washington Post. Washington Post, 08 October 2015. Web. 06 November
2015.

Works Consulted
The Council of Economic Advisers. The Economics of Paid and Unpaid Leave. Executive
Office of The President of The United States. June 2014. Web. 06 November 2015.