Paid Maternity Leave

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The United States is the only developed country out of one of four countries in the entire world who don't have a mandated paid maternity leave for new mothers. Women in countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, and France receive between 14 and 52 weeks of paid maternity leave and guaranteed job security with wage replacement ranging from national minimum wage to 75-100 % of their current earnings. In the United States, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) passed in 1993 by President Clinton, provides 12 weeks of unpaid and job-protected maternity leave for women who are eligible. The law doesn't widen to women working in small firms or women who have worked less than 1,760 hours for their company in the 12 months prior to their leave; therefore, only half of all working women in the US acquire job protection under this legislative act. Research suggests that the passage of the FMLA may have improved job continuity, but the women who returned to their prior place of work experienced a decline in their wages in the two years after the birth of their children. The FMLA has …show more content…
Employment status and race/ethnicity were the only social-demographic variables related with the number of paid sick days that were actually received. Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women in the sample reported receiving almost double the number of paid sick days received by the White women. Women who were working full-time received 6 days more per year than women working part-time. The differences in the number of paid personal days were apparent by family income, race/ethnicity, and employment status. Women were working full-time and women in the highest income category reported the highest number of paid personal days per year. There were also no differences in paid leave education, age, the status of their marriage, the status of their health insurance, or geographic