A 2012 Department of Labor survey found that 1 in 4 new working mothers take just two weeks of parental leave or less—and half of those were back to work within a week! Maternity leave policies are designed to address the challenges faced by working mothers and their newborn children. When the Independent Women's Forum commissioned a message experiment, they found that, initially, 84 percent of Americans would support PCAs, compared to 74 percent support for paid leave mandates. Hadley Heath Manning | Washington Examiner | September 28, 2016. The Pregnancy Pause isn’t the only pause to consider. FACT CHECK: Is The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact More Democratic Than The Electoral College. The national budget and the Constitution are at best secondary considerations. I’m a white collar worker at a small, dynamic, US company with pretty much near-unicorn levels of flexibility and ability to attempt to create and sustain work-life balance. Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions. Americans who believe that government maternity leave programs would improve their lives and help people in need are focused on just that: How would this affect people like me? The Pregnancy Pause’s focus on legitimizing this period of unemployment sends the message, even if inadvertently, that it’s okay for women to feel like they have to quit to become parents. Sign up to get the most recent tech news, tips and career advice. The only problem? This is the conflict at work in nearly every debate over social spending. We were stationed in South Carolina, hundreds of miles away from family, so I temporarily relocated back to Michigan to get some family support for seven months while he was gone. Hello!!! Common Argument #5: Fine, take paid maternity leave, but just know that it's going to increase the wage gap.. Hadley Heath Manning is a senior policy analyst and director of health policy at the Independent Women's Forum and the Independent Women's Voice. Presidential candidate Donald Trump recently released his plan to reform policies related to childcare and maternity leave in an effort to aid working families. Say goodbye to the 9-to-5. While it may be possible for some women to boast of the Pregnancy Pause on their LinkedIn profiles, this solution is primarily one for the privileged. Even so, it represents a costly, government-centric solution to a problem that would be better solved by the private sector, where women are free to find the work-life balance that best suits their preferences, their family's needs, and their budget. One huge issue with maternity leave is the fact that most parents do not get paid on this twelve week leave. While Trump wants to ensure all women have access to six weeks of half-paid leave, Clinton can top that: She proposes twelve weeks of leave, and at a higher percentage of pay! Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? March 2017 A government takeover of maternity leave – whether it's a mandate on employers or an entitlement program – would limit women's opportunities and our freedoms. If you weren’t working for a year or so here or there, you probably had a good reason that’s largely irrelevant to your future with whatever company is interviewing you. Yeah, it was “maternity leave”… but it was more than that, too. Initiatives to secure rights for more of the population in 2017 need to be much more inclusive than this title suggests. It’s easier—with less pressure from management to “get back to work”—just to quit for a few months and then find something else. My name is Ritika Gandhi. Some parents are forced to use their allowed sick days, but even that is only so much time. “A Map of Maternity Leave Policies Around the World.”. The Real Problem With Maternity Leave. On her LinkedIn profile, during the months she is unemployed due to caring for a newborn, a woman can list her employer as “The Pregnancy Pause” and her job title as “Mom.” Intrigued by this entry, a potential employer can click on the link or call the phone number and learn about maternity leave policies in the United States. For many women, it’s a choice between taking maternity leave or being homeless, and there’s no place on their LinkedIn profiles to put a 6-to-12 month “pause” for any reason. Instead of saying, “Hey! The effort is welcome, even if his policy proposal isn't perfect. And that’s a pause I think we can all get behind. Moms often avoid discussing the gap, which can have potential employers guessing and may cause qualified moms to be overlooked,” the website explains. Pfizer Should Be Praised – FULL STOP – For Its Announcement of a Vaccine, Court-Packing Is a Threat to the Rule of Law. This isn’t an adequate replacement for paid family leave, but it’s at least a way to create a better work environment that can make new parents more productive. Time that people are not getting because of difficult situations they are put in due to work. See, this was a perfectly acceptable reason I wasn’t working!”, what if we reframed the conversation? In the case of maternity leave mandates, often proposed by Democrats, the result would be clear: If you force all employers to offer paid leave, some employers will be less likely to hire and promote women, as this requirement raises the cost of employing women. Of the women who have left work to attend to family responsibilities, 67 percent plan to return to work within five years, and three quarters would consider returning to work immediately if there were options for remote work or flex time. First, let’s praise Mother New York’s intent: to justify the time a woman spends caring for her newborn and to change the culture of maternity leave in this country. Campaigning to become the first female president, Clinton has put family policy at the center of her agenda and hopes it will appeal to women voters. “Moms often avoid discussing the gap, which can have potential employers guessing and may cause qualified moms to be overlooked,” the website explains. Getting this conversation in the national arena is a huge coup, and Mother New York should be applauded for addressing this issue head-on. She is also the Tony Blankley Chair at the Steamboat Institute. Trump proposes to guarantee all American women six weeks of paid maternity leave at half-salary, funded through unemployment insurance. On her LinkedIn profile, during the months she is unemployed due to caring for a newborn, a woman can list her employer as “The Pregnancy Pause” and her job title as “Mom.” Intrigued by this entry, a potential employer can click on the link or call the phone number and learn about maternity leave policies in the United States.