Maternity Leave

The term maternity leave refers to the time a mother takes off from work at the birth or adoption of a child. Paid maternity leave is unusual in the United States, since no national requirement for employers exists. While some companies or institutions offer paid leave for the early care of a child, maternity leave in the United States usually consists of an employee combining short-term disability (STD), sick leave, vacation, personal days, and unpaid family leave.

Maternity leave falls under the more current and representative term parental leave, which also includes paternity leave and adoption leave. Regardless of the parent's gender or of the child's biological parentage, parental leave is the right to take time off work, paid or unpaid, to care for a child and/or to make arrangements for the child's welfare.

According to a Harvard University study in 2004, out of 168 nations, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, putting the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland. In almost all Western countries, maternity leave is available for those who have worked for their present employers for an established minimum amount of time. The United States and Australia are the only industrialized countries that do not provide paid leave for new mothers, though there are exceptions in some U.S. states. The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides for 12 weeks of job-protected leave. However, this condition applies only to those who work for larger companies. Australian mothers fare better, with 1 year of job-protected leave. Several countries, such as Sweden, Bulgaria, and Canada, provide generous support for mothers and families through their national terms for maternity leave. In most of these cases, the cost is shared between employer and state.

Actions are starting to be taken to expand paid maternity leave in countries such as Australia and the United States. Traditionally, political interests in maternity leave can be traced to such issues as the welfare of the state as well as the family, and to feminist debates. For instance, in Europe, feminists emphasized special treatment for mothers, including maternity leave and child care. The U.S. feminist movement, however, remained more focused on equal rights for women and therefore did not want to advocate notions of special treatment based on pregnancy or motherhood. The ideological conflict can be seen in a case such as France, which expanded maternity leave after World War II to fight falling fertility rates and encourage childbearing. The United States, with its alternative feminist agenda and its steady immigration growth, arguably did not need to ascribe to such nationally supported measures.

Several attempts at introducing paid maternity leave have occurred in the United States, but so far no other provision exists but the FMLA. The underlying problematic question “Who is paying for it?” dominates the discussion. While the administration of President Bill Clinton, for instance, argued for the use of unemployment funds for maternity leaves, opposition arose from businesses concerned with increased contribution to state unemployment funds. The main tension therefore seems to come from the attempt to designate a funding [Page 526]source, whether it is public or private or some combination or balance thereof, for the provision of care during the induction of a new child into the American family.

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