Parental Leave At The United States Essay

Becoming a parent is beautiful yet stressful time in many people's lives. Emotions of joy and worry fill the mind of expecting parents as they work to provide a loving and financially stable home for their family. Both parents wish to actively support their child and their spouse during this time of transition, however, corporations are making this task difficult. Maternity leave is a benefit that most companies provide, but only for their female employees. Male employees are not given the same opportunity to share the responsibility of childcare with their wife or to develop a bond early on with their child. Providing fathers maternity leave would give them time to dedicate themselves to the growth of their child, allow the mother to heal from giving birth, and promote equality within the family unit and in the workplace.

On top of maternity leave, most OECD members also have an additional paid parental and home care leave available only to mothers. The organization summarizes this benefit in Figure 2 which shows that its average for the 38 member countries is about 37 weeks, with an average payout of 45% of the employee’s original earnings. The United States, with only FMLA for a legislation, falls way below the average for all categories with 0 weeks of guaranteed paid leave.

As we move into the new millennium more and more employers are allowing, some are even encouraging, their employees to bring their newborn babies to work with them. This is probably one of the greatest changes in child care norms that this country has seen in the past 30 years. Once upon a time, when a woman had a baby she almost always quit her job to raise her child, depending on her husband to support her and her child. Then along came the idea of maternity leave. This is when a woman takes a certain amount of time off to be with newborn. Once this time period was up, the woman still had a job to go back to. This meant that women no longer had to rely on their husbands for support. Unfortunately it also

Sophie just had a baby, and her government ensures that she has 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, with 3 additional years of unpaid leave if she wants it. Her husband also has 11 days of paid

Although current federal and state level legislation guarantee some protections, these policies do not cover all new parents. Parents must have worked a minimum of 5 months while contributing to State Disability Insurance to receive 55% of their salary during 6 weeks of their parental leave, and must have worked with an employer for 1 year to quality for 12 weeks of unpaid leave (“About Paid Family Leave (PFL),” n.d.). Parental leave is not accessible to all adults in the United States because of these requirements, and therefore makes early parenting even more challenging for working adults. Nationally, the trend for mothers on maternal leave has stagnated, although the US economy has expanded (Zagorsky, 2017).

Paid family leave is highly supported amongst many employed parents in the United States, and is

Jane thinks she will be taking ten months’ maternity leave after the birth of their child. Her employer’s maternity package is full pay for the first six months, and then on the statutory maternity pay, worth about £94 net per week, for the further four months. They looked into Adan taking some paternity leave but have decided against it, and

The Family and Medical Aid Act (FLMA), of 1993, provides for 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave for certain specified events (8). Whilst one could refer to this as maternity or paternity leave if taken because of a pregnancy, this would not be strictly true. Where maternity and paternity leave are offered around the

When an employee has a baby they could be eligible for maternity leave and maternity pay. You have the right to maternity leave regardless of how long you've been in your job, how many hours you work, or how much you're paid. This is also the case for antenatal appointments. You are legally entitled to reasonable paid time off to attend antenatal appointments. Employees must take a minimum of 2 weeks off work (or 4 weeks if they are a factory worker).

“(a) take maternity/paternity leave around the time of delivery, (b) avail of a long period of parental (or childcare) leave during which they receive 77.6 percent of their income for 13 months per child and a flat rate of SEK 180 (USD 23) a day for another 3 months, and (c) take temporary leave for sick children aged 0-12, which provides up to 120 days off per child per year with 77.6 percent of the normal earnings per day (Duvander, Haas, & Hwang, 2014).”

A mere 12 weeks is the amount of unpaid maternity leave promised to working mothers under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in America. Although many mothers-to-be gladly take the dozen weeks off, American families are at a disadvantage compared to other families around the globe. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that does not guarantee or even offer paid maternity leave for working mothers; employers decide whether to provide paid leave for mothers. In the last few decades, more women have traded their aprons for briefcases. However, working women in the United States must choose to raise families while keeping their jobs. Currently, women in the United States must choose between their kids or their career. Mothers who decide to have families must stay at home with a new baby with no guarantee of a paycheck. New mothers should be guaranteed six months of fully paid maternity leave in the United States because they need to restore their health, paid leave helps the economy, and it promotes better health of the baby.

Australia government gives government-funded entitlement for working parents who care new born child or adopted child. Parental Leave Pay is a taxable payment paid at the National Minimum Wage up to 18 weeks. The company does not have to pay wages during the period but need to arrange tax withholding.

Depending on the country you live, your rights might differ a great deal when it comes to work and having a family. While Finnish mothers are able to enjoy over 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, new mothers in the US aren’t in as strong legal position when it comes to paid maternity leave. What’s more, Finnish fathers also get up to six weeks of paid paternity leave, while again, the US dads are left for fighting for time-off. It’s no wonder than that parents in countries like the US are impressed if the company voluntarily offers paid maternal or paternal leave. It will ensure having a baby isn’t a financial liability and takes a bit of the stress away from starting a family.

Women give birth nearly every day around the world, yet some fathers are hardly present to lend them support. Some fathers may not be desirous of the opportunity while others can’t find time to be there long enough. Also, some fathers can’t afford to sacrifice their pay check, which their families need to maintain the new addition. Paternity leave is time off from work granted to male employees, in the private and public sectors, to be with their spouses and newborns. Most employers rarely pay male employees paternity leave to spend time with their spouses when they deliver a child, suffer a miscarriage, or adopt a child. Men wishing to take paternity leave to assist their spouse under these conditions usually do so through paid leave such

Despite the advantages of paid parental leave, the United States trails behind other developed countries in guaranteeing these options. In fact, America is currently “one of the only two nations (the other being Papua New Guinea) that do not guarantee paid maternity leave to new mothers” (Baum II and Ruhm 333). Last year, according to the Pew Research Center, only fourteen percent of workers had access to paid family leave (Desilver). Instead of choosing to extend paid leave for their employees, many American businesses opt to offer unpaid family leave that is available to almost ninety