Maternity leave is a controversial debate that has been discussed for many years and continues to this day being a controversial issue. There is one side that argues that women have a right for leave of absence in order to bond with the baby and recuperate physically. On the other side there is the argument that companies take a financial hit. Both sides provide valid points for being pro maternity leave or against it, but one must take into consideration the long-term impacts these positions have. Maternity leave is necessary not only for emotional development but also for economical productivity in the long run. Maternity is a natural part of human life. Since the beginning of time a woman being pregnant and going through childbirth is a
Mothers returning to work after labor and delivery is both physically harmful and mentally harmful on a woman. Physicians have strongly advised women to be off their feet the first six weeks post-delivery, and that 's if they had a vaginal delivery without complications (Mauerer, 2015). The first three weeks after labor you 're not supposed to lift anything heavy, but many jobs require you to lift materials.. A woman’s body goes through a lot of while giving birth and requires plenty of rest. Not only does returning to work early effect a woman’s health, but also milk
Many businesses do not want to hire or promote someone who they consider a risk of taking a long leave of absence, like maternity leave. According to Jay Miletsky (2014) mandating paid maternity leave would only increase these costs by the amount of a woman’s wages.The reality is, for many companies paid maternity leave is simply too costly. Not only are they paying a salary to someone that 's not working, but they are also paying overtime hours to compensate for the work she is not doing in her absence. It 's not unusual for companies to run on very tight budgets, paying three months salary to a suddenly non-productive employee simply because they made the decision to have a child would hurt many l businesses. If maternity leave was mandated, many companies would have to make up the difference by laying off other employees, or raising prices of their products and services, ultimately harming consumers (Miletsky,
Overall the Family and Medical Leave Act has raised many issues on whether leave should be encourage and/or paid for by the employers. As of today, no haven policy has been enacted to tackle the challenges surrounding this issue, but positive steps have been taken and one day there will be no question that hard working employees will get the rights they
If you and your significant other had a child, would you want to be there to not only support your partner, but to see your child’s first milestones in real life? Of course you would! The problem is most parents miss crucial parts of their child’s life because of the lack of paid maternity and paternity leave in the United States. New families, across the nation, should be allowed a minimum six months of paid maternity leave.
As the world’s leading country, United States (U.S.) is one of the few countries without a federally mandated paid family and medical leave for workers. However, there is a mandated unpaid family and medical leave for 12 weeks (National Conference of State Legislatures [NCSL], 2013). Out of the 50 States in the U.S., there are four States that passed the initiative bill for a paid family leave for their workers. California, Rhode Island and New Jersey have state mandated disability program that provides paid family leave. In addition, there are employers mainly in white collar industry and that offer 6 weeks to four months of paid maternity leave to their employees (Suddath, 2015). While not every company offers a paid maternity, family and medical leave, a limited employers offer a short term disability insurance (STDI) through an outside company for three months at a prorated monthly cap with a monthly premium deducted from the employees payroll. The STDI covers maternity leave except preexisting
Mothers who are on maternity leave without pay have a struggle to meet financial needs because the time off work is used to take care of the child and to buy necessary things to keep the child healthy and happy. Although infant formula may be easier for the family when the mother is not available, breastfeeding would save money on formulas, hospital visits, medication, and fuel, which can instead be used on necessities like diapers, wipes, and clothing. As previously mentioned, breastfed babies are less likely to contract infections and other diseases; therefore, health insurance and hospital visits will be reduced, saving a substantial amount of money for the family. Also, mothers who invest their time breastfeeding will only have to make a one-time investment on a breast pump, lactation pads, and bottles. Breast milk is naturally produced after child birth, but a year of infant formula costs about
Family leave has many benefits to children and the family. Rossin (2011) states, “[family] leave may affect the amount of time a child spends with his mother rather than in non-maternal care. [family] leave will also affect the quality of time the child spends with the mother, depending on changes to her stress level and her satisfaction with the trajectory of her career. The quantity and quality of time a mother spends with her child in his first year of life matter for the child's well-being”
The United States is one of three industrialized countries that do not have policies put in place that mandate companies to provide paid parental leave. In 1993, U.S President, Bill Clinton, enacted the family and medical leave act (FMLA) which allows for employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for up to twelve weeks for medical reasons if their employer has more than fifty employees employed at the company. Later on in January of 2015, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that entitles federal employees for up to six weeks of paid sick days to take care of a newborn child or an adopted child. Currently there are only three states in the United States with paid parental leave policies which are California, New Jersey and Rhode Island. As of right now, only those employers who
Currently in the United States, under The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, the federal government mandates a minimum of 12 weeks unpaid maternity leave to mothers who have a newborn or have newly adopted a child. Whether or not an employer chooses to pay the mother during this time is left to their discretion. This law only applies to about 50 -60 percent of working mothers due to firm size and duration of employment requirements. Currently, only 11 percent of private sector workers have access to paid maternity leave in the United States. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation that doesn’t mandate paid maternity leave to women. (Stearns, 2015)
Recently women’s rights and women’s equality in the workplace has come back to the fore as a topic for discussion in government agencies and the United Nations. Whilst this is a very important topic, when it comes to time off from work when a new child is born, women in the US have some provision, whereas men have none.
America is the one and only developed country that does not offer any paid maternity leave. Maternity leave is a period of absence from work granted to a mother before and after the birth of her child. In America this means twelve weeks of unpaid absence that guarantees her job when she returns. We are so far behind everyone that out of all of the countries around the world seven out of 196 including America do not have mandatory paid maternity leave. (Colorado public radio news) That is a sad figure, to think that we place having a family so high but don’t give the mothers the protection and security they deserve.
Bringing a new baby into the world is one life changing experience. The lives of both the mother and the father are changed tremendously as they begin to learn to raise a child by trial and error. Maternity leave for mothers of newborns is never disagreeable; when it comes to paternity leave, however, it becomes one of the most controversial topics of the workforce. Reasons for maternity leaves and paternity leaves are both justifiable. Men should have the opportunity to take paternity leave from their jobs so that they can be a helping hand to the mother, have a chance to bond with their newborn child, and help bridge the gap in gender equality in the workplace without the stigma and criticism. After the birth of the child, women can become emotionally and physically fatigued, so men take an important role as care giver and supporter, especially in the first few weeks. If a father has an opportunity to stay home for the first couple of weeks, to care for both the mother and his new child, it will make a big impact for the family.
Being pregnant and going through childbirth is a natural part of life. Women have been doing it since the beginning of mankind. In the 1900’s childbirth was seen as a normal part of the life cycle and the majority of births were attended at home by midwives and occasionally by physicians. With the age of medicine and technology in Western society, the use of pain medication and anesthetics has surged among pregnant women. During the baby boom generation in the 1940-50’s, hospital births became the norm with 80% of women giving birth while sedated or unconscious.
Perry, S. E., Hockenberry, M. J., Lowdermilk, D. L., & Wilson, D. (2013). Labor and Birth Processes. In Maternal Child Nursing Care (5th ed., p. 351). Elsevier-Health Sciences Division.
Maternity leave is a time when a woman leaves before her pregnancy and can stay gone from a company anywhere from 4-6 weeks, after the birth of her baby. The promise of holding your job is guaranteed, but on this leave you collect no income. The issues widely debated is whether men should have the option whether to take maternity leave and if maternity leave should be paid. Bonding is crucial to early childhood development for both parents. Introducing a baby into a family’s life, can affect a family financially and physically, due to lack of time with your child.
When mothers enter the workforce after their maternity leave has ended, they begin to face a challenge when breastfeeding their child. Most mothers tend to travel the convenient route, pushing breastfeeding aside, leaving its benefits behind. However, this does not have to be the case because breastfeeding in the workforce is possible. While on maternity leave, steps can be taken to prepare both the baby and the mother to return to work. Prior to returning to work, mothers can pump while the baby is asleep and also begin to feed their babies from a bottle to begin the adjustment process (“Breastfeeding and Going”). After returning to work, there are certain protection laws such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, garnering mothers the right to pump while working (“Breastfeeding and Going”). Even though it may be difficult, mothers who are returning to work have no excuse to discontinue breastfeeding their child. The benefits that come along with breastfeeding are worth overcoming the
When you are carrying a child it is your job to ensure that your child is going to be healthy, receive love, be surrounded by caring individuals,