Quick, name the four countries that have no paid maternity leave. Then sign this petition.

Here's a quick quiz:

Which are the four countries in the world that do not provide paid maternity leave, according to Moms Rising?*

Answer:  Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, Liberia, and the United States of America.

Wonder what it looks like in our peer developing countries?  Here's what Moms Rising reports that families are guaranteed in our neighbor to the north:

Canada gives the birth mother fifteen weeks of partial paid leave for physical recovery, and then also gives another thirty-five weeks of partial paid parental leave that has to be taken before the child turns one. These thirty-five weeks of parental leave can be taken by the mother or the father, or can be shared between the two. The pay during the fifty weeks total of leave related to a new child is 55 percent of the average gross salary over the past twenty-six calendar weeks. All in all, there are fifty weeks of partially paid leave available for new Canadian parents to spend with their child.

Sounds pretty good from here, right?  But Canadians are probably envious of France, which provides three years of paid parental leave with guaranteed job protection, or Sweden, which provides 16 months of paid parental leave which must be shared by the baby's father.  Swedish families are also legally entitled to work reduced hours until a child turns eight.

I felt sick to my stomach recently when a friend here in Massachusetts told me of a co-worker who went back to work at three weeks because she couldn't afford to miss work.  I frequently meet mothers who have to return at six weeks.  Obviously, this is unhealthy for both mother and child, but it is reality for many working mothers.

I was one of the extremely fortunate employees who got paid maternity leave from my employer, and the following year my former state (California) passed landmark legislation requiring 50% compensation for six weeks.  It's a far cry from Canada or Europe, but it showed that it's possible to enact policy that recognizes the needs of families.

In this election year, we have an opportunity push this issue onto the candidates' agendas. 

So, sign this petition sponsored by Moms Rising to let your representatives know that this issue is important to American families.  It includes a nice statement about the relationship of between paid family leave and breastfeeding - a right guaranteed in workplaces in 107 countries.  Can you guess who doesn't?

* Data from a Harvard University/McGill University study of 173 countries.  Australia guarantees one year of unpaid leave, and is currently debating a paid maternity leave policy.

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Comments

[Maria]

FYI-- I blogged on this topic linking your blog and mom's rising today! Hopefully we can continue to spark people's interest and move it to action! Thanks for your post and wonderful blog!

[KaritaG]

I'm an attorney, and I just wanted to point out that something people forget about the FMLA is that it only applies to larger employers. This doesn't seem like a big deal until you think about the fact that the majority of your doctors, accountants, and lawyers don't work for a big corporation - they work in small- to medium-sized partnerships or firms. Which means in my line of work, I have two choices - a) stick with smaller firms where I only have to bill 1600 hours per year, and that will work with me on flexible scheduling but probably will only allow me a few weeks off with a baby (and probably unpaid at that) simply because they can't afford to absorb the cost of training someone to do my job for such a short amount of time, or b) go to a bigger firm where I will get a great maternity policy (at least on paper - probably not in "attitude!") but have to bill 2000+ hours a year, leaving me no time to spend with the kid once I have it. It's a lose-lose situation, and law firms have been debating it for years. I'd be happy if the FMLA were made to be applicable to ALL employers with more than two/three employees! One of my coworkers recently got TWO paid weeks off with her baby. Two weeks is barely long enough to get your c-section healed up!

[Rebekah]

The rest of the story of short/unpaid maternity leaves in the US is that taxes here are much lower than in countries with state mandated and funded paid maternity leaves. This allows moms to choose for themselves how to spend their money. Moreover, it makes the care of children the responsibility of those who choose to undertake the task. The cost to employers of paid maternity leaves would only be passed on to employees in the form of lower compensation, including those employees who do not have children.

[KaritaG]

I would gladly take a lower salary for a longer (or ANY at all!) maternity leave. I see Rebeka's point about the costs being passed on but I guess my problem is not necessarily whether I can choose to spend the savings how I want (i.e. hire someone to care for my child) but more that we are expected to return to work within sometimes two weeks of giving birth, often after major surgery and inevitably with very little sleep. I'm not asking for a free lunch - and I agree it would not be fair to pass those costs on to people without kids - however, right now we don't even have the OPTION to take a lower salary and have a longer time to recuperate and/or just spend with our baby after giving birth.

[tanya@motherwearblog]

Rebekah,

From what I remember of the California paid maternity leave law, employees (not employers) actually pay the full freight for the cost of the program.

If my memory serves me, we all paid about $2 or less per month into the fund. I thought it was a huge bargain!

We may see just see it differently, but I'd gladly pay more in taxes to have better access to things like paid maternity leave. It's of those things (like health care or public education) which few can afford to pay for individually, but when everyone pitches in just a little we can end up with a much better system which benefits everyone.

- Tanya

[Rattling the Kettle]

You might be interested to know that the NJ legislature just passed a bill, expected to be signed into law by the governor shortly, that would provide for up to 6 weeks of paid "disability" leave to care for a child following its birth or adoption. The money would come from the state, not the employer, and would be capped at 1/3 of wages or $524/week, whichever is lower. If signed into law, it would go into effect in July, 2009. There will be no minimum number of employees required, unlike FMLA, nor any service time eligibility period. However, if the employee is not separately eligible for FMLA, then the employee’s job is not guaranteed at the end of the leave.

Better than a kick in the pants, as the saying goes.

[Rosemary]

I'm a Canadian woman currently on maternity leave. My maternity leave package is actually even better than that described above as I work for the Canadian federal government. I get 93% of my salary for one year, then can take up to 4 additional years of unpaid leave and my job will be protected. Because I have access to universal health care, my delivery didn't cost me anything. As well, through my workplace I have additional health insurance that covers 80% of the cost of prescriptions and other medical expenses, as well as 90% of dental expenses. Another benefit: all parents with a child under the age of 6 gets $100 per month for child care. I am so so grateful for all this and am horrified at at how the maternity leave policies in the U.S. penalize women and families. How can a country as wealthy as the U.S. not afford even a partial maternity leave for that all-important first year? It's shameful. All I can suggest to all of you women reading this is: move to Canada and get a job with the federal government! Sure we have higher taxes, but it's worth it to live in a just and caring society that values families. (the only caveat to all this is that self-employed women don't get maternity leave)