Argumentative Essay On Maternity Leave

Words: 773
Pages: 4

While doing some research, I have learned that maternity leave has become quite an issue. In Virginia, we do not have a state law that specifically requires employers to offer pregnancy leave. Although, we do have the Human Rights Act that must provide some leave for those women who are disabled by pregnancy. Being disabled by pregnancy means that you can no longer do certain activities so that the mother can deliver safely and care for the newborn. In America, the U.S. has a policy, The Family and Medical leave Act of 1993. It is mandating 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually. Unfortunately, only four states have paid maternity leave. The four states are California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. California and New Jersey gives you 6 weeks and Rhode Island gives you only 4 weeks. Research has shown that women in the United States are more likely to drop out of work force voluntarily due to lack of time with the infant and stress. After just looking at maternity leave in America, I decided to branch out and do other countries. I wanted to compare the difference between the two. Upon doing some research I read something that has yet …show more content…
There were two that particularly caught my eye. A man named, Jim in Massachusetts could only take five days off. Unfortunately, those 5 days were unpaid. The moment he came back to work he described it as being “worked to death” and was also sleep deprived. (O’Neil, 22 Dads Explain What Paternity Leave is Really Like in America) Another one I read was a man in Texas, Chris. He is a bartender and if a bartender stops taking hours they stop scheduling hours for them to work. When his child was born he could no longer work during the weekdays and could only work the weekends. They slowly stopped putting him on the schedule and he felt like he was forced into retirement. (O’Neil, 22 Dads Explain What Paternity Leave is Really Like in