Australia finally has a paid maternity leave scheme and I used it when Cormac was born almost three years ago. But we were one of the last OECD countries to come on board. Except, long before a national scheme for all mothers was introduced in our country I had paid maternity leave. In fact, I used it when I had my first child, Lauca seven years ago. I had paid maternity leave and a bunch of women on lower incomes did not have it. That’s how paid maternity leave works when you don’t provide it as a universal entitlement. The better off – those with higher incomes, more secure jobs and better negotiating positions – get it as part of their employment conditions, and the worse off miss out. They’re mothers, too, of course, and their babies were just as tiny and demanding as mine were, and those mothers were just as exhausted as I was, but they were missing out.
The United States of America still doesn’t have a paid maternity leave scheme, you’re about the only developed country left without a scheme. Well, some of you are getting paid maternity leave.. just that many of you are not. And the gap between those who do and those who don’t is growing. America, you must not walk away from this fight. All mothers require time to recover from birth and establish a bond with their babies. It is not a luxury, it is not a holiday, it is essential. It is worth fighting for.
Image from here at Sociological Images.
blue milk 
In my workplace permanent employees get the universal leave (18 weeks) plus the leave entitlement we had before the universal scheme (which was 14 weeks and is now 18 weeks). So permanent employees get 36 weeks paid leave, which is awesome, and then you can take another three months unpaid leave. However, many staff are not permanent, they’re on short-term project contracts. Most of those short-term project staff are women. So they get the universal leave and have no right to get their job back afterwards. We’ve still got a lot of work to do.
In Norway, we have 46 weeks of paid maternity leave. Three weeks before and six weeks after birth have to be used by the mother, while twelve weeks are designated to the partner. There are similar arrangements in the other Nordic countries. It makes us able to breastfeed extensively and still have very high participation by women in the workforce.To be honest, we are a bit amazed that there are still developed countries that do not have maternity leave at all.
Hold on. I need a moment to stop being so mad it makes my teeth chatter. Okay.
American (US), here. I have to comment here and say this because nobody ever seems to get this point across and that’s what makes me so angry and disgusted:
Some kind of universal paid maternity leave is GOOD FOR BUSINESS.
I want to paint it in neon letters 30 feet high. It’s GOOD, people try to tell you it’s bad, but here’s who it’s bad for: fucking nobody. It’s good for mothers. It’s good for babies. And it’s FANTASTIC for businesses. WHAT, you say, maybe. The “poor business” thing is an old line and makes no sense. If maternity leave comes out of tax instead of a fund set aside by the business, of course that’s good. It’s even better for tiny little companies – if you’ve got one mom on maternity leave and there’s 4 of you, shit, that’s 25% of your company currently not working. Little businesses are hurt by this shit the MOST, or they would be, if they dared provide for their employees (some do, some don’t). Point is, it shouldn’t be their problem, this should be something we spread out across all citizens, because this is a “citizens of this country”-wide issue. It’s gigantic.
AND it matters hugely to small businesses, which are theoretically championed in this country, but sadly only theoretically at best, as someone who would like to start one, but has found nothing but ridiculous obstacle after another (insurance, bureaucratic awfulness at every turn, the idea that some day I might have a child, etc).
We could fix it! It would be better for everybody!
But no. For some reason. Ugh, I can’t even articulate how disgusted I am.
I am a childcare provider in the US, and because I work in a private home as a nanny, I am lucky to have even paid sick and vacation days. My employers are European, and our system shocks them. I’m going to have a baby in October, and they can’t afford to give me paid maternity leave–they’d be paying for child care twice over the entire time, hiring a replacement and paying me. If the government doesn’t step up, here, no one in my profession will have paid family leave. It is simply not possible to pay two people at once for private families or many group child care centers, most of which are not-for-profit organizations, without help. If child care is a luxury and paid maternity leave is only for the privileged and a single-income household is not feasible for most families, what in the heck are we supposed to do? Just not have kids? It makes absolutely no sense.
Another USian here. I was one of the privileged few who was able to take 3 months of leave paid after the birth of both of my babies. I went to a mama group soon after the birth of my 2nd child and one of the mamas there, I was so appalled to learn, went back to work about a week and a half after giving birth – basically as soon as her midwife gave her the OK to get out of bed. The difference, just as you said – I am college educated with a secure, reasonably well paying career, and have worked for my organization long enough to establish negotiating power. The other mama is a server at a restaurant.
Some states do have a form of paid leave, ususally 6-8 weeks of partial pay through a state short-term disability insurance program. I do not live in such a state. It is mind blowing that there is no universal paid maternity leave program in this country. Even more mind blowing is that it took until the late 1990s to even get the Family Medical Leave Act passed, which allows new parents to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the birth or adoption of child without getting fired.
It’s quite ironic that I have seen and heard new mothers themselves arguing against universal paid parental leave. There’s a bizarre indivualism-gone-wild streak in this country. If you pay attention to Republican politics in the U.S. you will hear it loud and clear. Many people just don’t see the value in taking care of families and the community – it’s every man and woman for hirself. I do not understand it, but then again I am a “commie mommie”.
From the U.S., I get so mad that the fight for maternity (and paternity) leave is on a case-by-case basis. I got some leave because I’m in liberal California but it wasn’t enough and it is dependent on your employer too. All women should get it. It’s good for the health of the child too and promotes breastfeeding. It’s good for society as a whole to support families.
[…] Andie Fox at Blue Milk, ”Why [Should You] Support Paid Maternity Leave? Because I Already Have It and You Deserve It” The United States of America still doesn’t have a paid maternity leave scheme, you’re […]
[…] inflexibility of American workplace practices more? (I mean, you want to talk about privilege, how about how poor mothers are left behind on paid maternity leave?) Why does Hanna Roison deliberately bait mothers now, instead of just questioning one-size-fits-all […]
[…] Why you should support paid maternity leave? Because I already have it (bluemilk.wordpress.com) […]
Popping in here to report/rant (because my own blog is dismally neglected) that I had a conversation at lunch today with a female, childless coworker who resents the small “parental leave” contributions that are deducted from her paycheck. Why? Because SHE will never get to use it. She went as far as to suggest that when people attain a certain age and have not had children, they should be given a paid year off (implying that’s what women on mat leave are getting hahahahaha) or refunded all those “parental leave” contributions.
I’m almost speechless. Even the argument that paid parental leave builds a better future society (and healthier future citizens) was lost on her because she figures she won’t get to benefit from that, either.
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought
this post was good. I don’t know who you are but definitely you’re going to
a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
Dino
[…] of my thoughts on maternity leave: Why you should support paid maternity leave? Because I already have it and you deserve it; Maternity leave as a human rights issue; We must not walk away from this fight; and Let’s […]
Notably, postpartum depression is not an illness that is exclusive to mothers. Fathers can experience it as well. In fact, it can affect as many as 10% of new fathers. As with women, symptoms in men can result in fathers having difficulty caring for themselves and for their children when suffering from postpartum depression.
[…] inflexibility of American workplace practices more? (I mean, you want to talk about privilege, how about how poor mothers are left behind on paid maternity leave?) Why does Hanna Roison deliberately bait mothers now, instead of just questioning one-size-fits-all […]