Kaneria 1

Bhavika Kaneria
Mr. Campopiano
Government 1
23 October 2015
Federally Mandating Paid Maternity Leave
As of 2015, the United States is the only country in the Organisation For Economic
Co-Operation and Development (OECD) that does not mandate paid maternity leave. The OECD is a
group of countries with highly developed economies, and although the United States is one of the most
advanced countries in the world, it has yet to federally mandate this paid leave. Americas Family Leave
Act provides employees with twelve weeks of leave when needed, but this is unpaid. A change must be
made to provide employees with this leave, and for this reason, corporations should be required to
provide paid maternity leave to pregnant women because it improves the mental health of the mother,
encourages more women to keep their jobs after giving birth, and allows both parents to take care of
their children when they are first born.
Paid family leave is not only about the money that is given during time off; it also improves the
mental and physical health of the mother. Because women no longer have to worry about whether they
will still have their job or if they will have enough money, they will be less stressed, not only improving
their health, but the childs as well. ...women with several months of maternity benefits with full wages
were 16.2% less likely to be depressed than women without paid maternity leave, (Berkman). Women
who were given regular pay during their maternity leave have been shown to be less likely to be
depressed in the future. This makes sense, as they would no longer have to worry about lack of money
during their leave if it was paid. ...eligibility to more weeks of fully paid benefits at the time of childbirth

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leads to better mental health at old age, (Avendano, Berkman, Brugiavini, and Pasini 2). Paid maternity
leave is correlated to better mental health, showing that it has a major effect on the rest of a womans
life.
In addition to improving the mothers mental health, paid maternity leave encourages women to
keep their jobs after giving birth (Coutermarsh). If women are given pay during their time off, they are
more likely to want to work at the same company for a longer period of time due to the benefits they
were given. In fact, women who used their paid leave reported an increase in pay after giving birth
(Manas). This could also possibly be due to the fact that since those women kept their jobs for longer
periods of time after giving birth, they received a raise in salary. All this shows that mandating paid
maternity leave not only benefits pregnant women, but employers as well. Because corporations will no
longer have to worry as much about whether or not a woman will decide to quit or switch jobs after
giving birth, both women and the employer will benefit from the arrangement.
Mandating paid maternity leave allows parents to take care of their newborns after they are
born. Taking care of a newborn can be hard, so it is important that both parents are present to share the
work. In fact, more than half of Americans that dont work say they are not due to family responsibilities
(Miller and Streitfield). Paid maternity leave would not only allow parents to put in enough time in taking
care of their newborns, but also give more people the option to work. It is very important that babies
are given the proper care, especially after they are first born. This establishes a good relationship
between the parent and child from the beginning. A period of leave after a mother has given birth has
actually been shown to improve mother-child relationships (Berkman). This just shows how important a
period of leave after giving birth is. Because paid leave is not federally mandated, many parents go back
to work far too soon after their child has been born in order to earn money.

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People who are opposed to mandating paid maternity leave may argue that we already have the
Family and Medical Leave Act. However, this only provides twelve weeks of unpaid leave (United
States Department of Labor). They may also argue that it will create more discrimination against women
when they are applying for jobs. However, this is refuted by the fact that paid leave increases both
maternal employment and wages in the long-run (Pathe). This is because, as stated previously, women
are more likely to return to their previous jobs if they were on paid maternity leave. The issue of not
having this leave yet is imperative to fix, as the United States has a maternity leave policy similar to that
of countries struggling with literacy and AIDS (Shortway).
Corporations with over 30 employees should be required to provide six months of paid
maternity leave to pregnant women because it improves a mothers mental health, encourages more
women to keep their jobs after giving birth, and allows both parents to take care of their newborns. The
United States is the only country in the OECD that does not provide paid leave to women who are
pregnant, and this is a big deal, as it is necessary for the health of the child and mother. Many parents try
to take as little time off as possible so they can go back to work quickly and start earning again, but this
can have an adverse effect on their health. With paid leave, they will no longer have to worry about this.
In fact, it will encourage more parents to return to their jobs for a longer period of time after the birth of
a child. Not only that, but it will improve the relationship they hold with their children later in life. Paid
maternity leave is not only necessary for the health of parents and their children, but is also necessary to
provide employers with a sense of security when hiring.

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Works Cited
Avendano, Mauricio, Lisa F. Berkman, Agar Brugiavini, and Giacomo Pasini. "Do Maternity Leave
Benefits Improve Mothers Health at Old Age? Evidence from 11 European Countries during
1960-2010." Thesis. Princeton University, 2014.
Princeton University
. 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2015

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Berkman, Lisa. "A Link between Paid Maternity Leave and Mental Health."
Harvard T.H. Chan
.
N.p., 13 May 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.

Coutermarsh, Patrick. "Who Should Pay for Maternity Leave?"

Santa Clara University
. N.p., 21
Aug. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Manas, Steve. "Rutgers Study Finds Paid Family Leave Leads to Positive Economic Outcomes."
Rutgers Study Finds Paid Family Leave Leads to Positive Economic Outcomes
. Rutgers, The
State University Of New Jersey, 19 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Miller, Claire C., and David Streitfeld. "Big Leaps for Parental Leave, If Workers Actually Take It."
The New York Times
. The New York Times Company, 1 Sept. 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.

Pathe, Simone. "Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia."
News
Events RSS
. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, 2015. Web. 09 Oct. 2015.
Shortway, Kendall. "The United States and Swaziland; The Case for Paid Maternity Leave and
Protection against Pregnancy Discrimination - The Arkansas Journal of Social Change and Public
Service."
The Arkansas Journal of Social Change and Public Service
. N.p., 22 Feb. 2015. Web.
23 Sept. 2015.

United States Department of Labor. "Wage and Hour Division (WHD)."

Family and Medical Leave
Act
. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

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