According to a 2014 survey by the United Nations' International Labor Organization, the US is the only

country in the developed world to not offer government-mandated paid maternity leave. Paid

maternity leave has been shown to benefit all women, but more specifically women who do not have a

bachelors degree and earn low wages. The US passed the Family Medical Leave Act in 1993 mandating

12 weeks of unpaid leave for employees, however it had little to no effect on the amount of leave

women in America took after having a baby. When women can afford to take leave longer than 6

weeks, it has been shown to benefit the health of the mother, child and employers. Women who can

take leave tend to return to work more often, and when they do return to work, they are more

confident in their choice and the company retains valued employees.

In 1993, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed. It entitled eligible employees to 12 weeks of

unpaid leave per year to handle family medical problems. There are many studies that show the FMLA

did not significantly affect employment, wages or leave-taking (Baum 2006). In 2000, a Survey of

Employees and Establishments was conducted and it found that the average length of family leave was

10 days (Baum 2006). In the article, The Effects of Government-mandated Family Leave on Employer

Family Leave Policies, the author concluded that the FMLA increased the number of employers who

offered family leave policies, but it did not increase the number of employees who took advantage of

the mandated leave policies. This could be because families cannot afford to miss 12 weeks of work

without pay, or it is possible that vacation, sick time and short term disability plans are used to cover

any leave, and the unpaid leave is not necessary. The FMLA only applies to businesses who have over 50

employees, and of the establishments surveyed, only about 10% met that requirement. Currently, the

FMLA only covers about half of the working women in the US (Wojcicki 2014). Larger businesses tend to

have other family leave policies in place, such as short term disability policies, which are required to be

extended to cover pregnancies. For further legislation to make a difference, it would need to include
smaller businesses, and it would likely have to include a requirement for the leave to be paid, even if

only at a percentage of the full wage of the employee.

In the article Women at Work: When Corporate Support Backfires, it references a survey done by the

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In the 2010 survey, the US ranked

17th out of 22 countries for the participation of women in the work force. Only 75.2 % of women aged

25-54 are working in the US compared to an average of 79.5% for the other countries. In 1990, the US

ranked 6th, with 74% of women working, compared to an average of 67% for the other countries. It

seems that women tend to pursue occupations that offer more flexible working schedules, do not

require travel, do not have direct client interaction, pay less, and the positions offer no possibility of

advancement to upper management. The lack of family-friendly policies in the US could be a

contributing factor to the reason women do not seek upper management roles. Notably, Yahoo! CEO

Melissa Meyer, returned to work two weeks after having her first baby in 2012. While countries that

offer mandated paid maternity leave have more women participating in the work force, the positions

they fill tend to be low-level, part-time positions. Compared to the countries that offer paid leave,

women in the US tend to occupy higher ranking, full-time positions. The argument exists that the lack of

paid maternity leave policies in the US has helped propel more women to the top of their careers.

Women who work experience positive health benefits from being employed, however working women

can also experience work-family conflict, which can have a negative impact on a womans health

(Marshall, Tracy, Orthner, Rose 2009). Many studies have been done on the positive health benefits of

employment for women, however none have specifically focused on women with infant children. In the

article, After the Baby: Work Family Conflict and Working Mothers Psychological Health, it explores

the work-family conflict that can arise for women caring for infants and the resulting depressive

symptomology. A study of 1,364 families was conducted by interviewing mothers in their homes at 1, 6

and 15-months post-partum. The mothers were asked questions relating to their childrens health,
marital status, job quality, work hours and work-family conflict. In the study, more than half of all the

mothers returned to work within three months of giving birth, and women who had poorer quality jobs

and children with poor or fair health experienced more depressive symptoms that women with healthy

children and better quality jobs. A separate study noted that women who returned to work within 6

weeks of giving birth were more likely to have depressive symptoms compared to women who took

longer leave. Feelings of depression can put a new mother at risk for other health problems, which

could lead to time away from work and adverse child outcomes. Paternal involvement in caring for the

infant at the 6-month mark showed a decrease in depressive symptoms of the mother. As fathers

become more involved in caring for infants, it removes demands from working mothers, reducing stress

and relieving depressive symptoms.

Another study titled The Length of Maternity Leave and Family Health, was done in Denmark in 2002

and it looked at the short and long-term effects of maternity leave. At the beginning of 2002, Denmark

increased the maternity leave benefit from 24 weeks of full benefit compensation to 46 weeks of full

benefit compensation. This study utilized publicly available data such as dates of birth of the infants,

socioeconomic information of the mother and father and the type and dates of maternity leave benefit

payments to determine how much leave was taken. To determine the health outcomes of the mothers,

data from the National Board of Health in Denmark was used to track emergency department visits,

hospital admissions, receiving anti-depressant prescriptions, having another child and divorce rates. By

looking at the data, the study noted that in general, increasing the length of the maternity leave added

little benefit to the health and wellness of new mothers or children. When reviewing the data for

specific subgroups, the study showed that women who had multiple children, lower income and less

education benefited the most from the increased paid maternity leave. While this study was very

thorough, it relied solely on statistical information. They were able to track specific families, and

whether they went to the hospital or received anti-depressant medication, but some women do not
seek help for post-partum depression. I think the previous study that interviewed new mothers in their

homes is a more accurate assessment of how new mothers are dealing with stress.

In 2008, 80% of employees who utilized the FMLA took less than 6 weeks of leave (Marshall, Tracy,

Orthner, Rose 2009). Workers cited financial reasons for not utilizing more than 6 weeks of FMLA.

According to the National Conference of State Legislators, only three states currently offer paid

maternity leave. California, Rhode Island and New Jersey presently offer paid leave, New York voted to

mandate paid maternity leave and it will take effect January 1, 2018. Children of mothers who take

longer leave can benefit from higher quality of care in their first year of life (Voldby Beuchert, Knoth

Humlum and Vejlin 2014). Mothers who have more leave from work can breast feed longer, provide

their children with more adult supervision and interaction, and children who are not in daycare are less

likely to be exposed to infectious diseases. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that suboptimal

breast-feeding can leave infants more susceptible to illness and hospitalization, which costs the country

billions of dollars annually (Wojcicki 2014). A 2011 survey conducted by the Center for Economic and

Policy Research about the mandatory paid leave in California, found that 91% of the employers stated

the policy either increased or had no effect on profits, improved morale and productivity and decreased

turn over (Wojcicki 2014). A separate study noted that before the Paid Family Leave Program (PFL) in

California, women took an average of three weeks of leave in California, however after the enactment

maternal leave increased by 3-4 weeks on average (Rossin-Slater, Ruhm, Waldfogel 2011). The women

who benefited most from the PFL were non-college educated, unmarried, nonwhite mothers. Susan

Wojcicki notes in her article Paid Maternity Leave is Good for Business, that when Google increased

their paid maternal leave from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, they saw a 50% increase in retention rate of new

mothers. Allowing mothers the time to care for their infants and return to work feeling more confident

about their choice, helps to reduce turnover costs and the company retains the skills and perspective of

a valued employee. Donna Morris, a Human Resource Executive for Adobe, notes that the lack of
government mandates for paid leave puts the responsibility on corporations to balance the needs of

employees and meeting business goals, and employees have not had the support they needed (Feintzeig

2015).

In March of this year, President Trump stated in an address to Congress that his administration wanted

"to make child care accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents that they have paid family

leave." (Mundahl 2017). In the article Would Trumps Paid Parental Leave Plan Hurt Young Women?,

it explores opposing views to paid parental leave. Supporters argue that it lowers the wage gap

between men and women, keeps parents in the work force, increases employee retention, and leads to

healthier families and children. Opponents are concerned with the cost of parental leave programs.

The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act proposes a tax to fund the program that could cost up to

$85.9 billion a year. Opponents also note that labor is the most expensive part of business, and if it

becomes costly to hire women of reproductive age, fewer jobs may awarded to young women or base

pay may decrease for women.

The US is the only developed country in the world that doesnt mandate paid maternity leave for new

mothers. It is amazing that every other country can make it work, but there are groups here that state it

would never work in our country. HR managers have a responsibility to the companies they work for

and to the employees. Since leave is not mandated, it is the responsibility of employers to decide how

they will treat their employees. Mandated maternity leave can help promote diversity in the work

place. Tech companies such as Twitter, Facebook and Yahoo! released their employment demographics

and they showed that their employees are predominately male and white or Asian (Feintzeig 2015).

Diversity is important in the work place because it can provide better service to customers and create

more and better ideas (Dias 2011). HR managers are responsible for employee retention, as the hiring

and selection process can be very costly to companies. By offering paid maternity leave, women are

more likely to return to work after having a baby, and they will not be forced back to work to soon,
which can have adverse health effects for the mother and baby. If mother or baby is experiencing

adverse health effects, it can result in absenteeism, which costs the company money. Paid maternity

leave has been shown time and again to assist the people who need it most - under-educated and low

earning workers. HR managers should be the advocates on the front lines for paid maternity leave, it

has shown to benefit employees greatly while not increasing expenses for employers.