Argument Presentation

Running head: PAID MATERNITY LEAVE 1

PAID MATERNITY LEAVE 5

Paid Maternity Leave

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Paid Maternity Leave

The United States is a developed state that does not offer paid maternity leave on the federal level and maternity leave, which is controlled by US labor law. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) gives twelve weeks’ unpaid leave for newly adopted or mothers of newborn children. The United States has not enacted laws that require employers and businesses to provide maternity leave to their workers; hence women opt to have fewer children due to economic stress (Park, 2019). The federal government should enact labor laws that require employers to give paid maternity leave for its employees because millions of mothers face impossible situations across America when they give birth despite being employed.

Doctors recommend mothers of newborn children to take at least six weeks off work after giving birth to bond with their newborn and to recover their health. Most of the mothers are left in a dilemma to follow medical advice or to return to work (Siregar, Pitriyan, Walters, Brown, Phan, & Mathisen, 2019). Some mothers go back to the office just five weeks after giving birth. Their bodies are still in agony from nerve damage, as some of them have to be operated for them to have the tiny baby. Mothers find it hard to survive because most of them feel stressed about the work-life balance, and their stomach falls sick all the time; hence it’s hard for them (Hamad, 2019). If the US were offering statutory paid maternity leave as required by the analysis of international labor organizations, newborn mothers would be happy beings.

Assuming all women were offered paid maternity leave rights, they will stop being ashamed of themselves for having children and a career at the same time. If all women were entitled to 12 weeks of protected job leave, they would have enough time with their newborns as recommended by doctors (Park, 2019). Paid maternity leave will give employees a happy memory when they return to work because they made it through and survived their standards. Employees who take unpaid maternity leave go through the toughest times of their life because they are living a non-profit life as they are not paid for either five or more weeks' leave time.

Former president of USA Bill Clinton in 1993 enacted the national Family and Medical Act (FMLA). It required employees to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave a year. The vacation is only valid when taking care of a sick family member, adoption, when on medication, or at times of birth. Even if newborn mothers qualified, with household bills, rent, medical bills as well as car payments, taking unpaid leave was not a choice for them. These mothers will be in financial ruin because I can’t imagine how they can survive without an extra income for like three months (Hamad, 2019).

Long-term sickness or pregnancy, makes Americans go for times without pay, and can also lose their jobs. People who value their families face it rough when it comes to time to choose whether to go without pay to take care of the newborn baby. Following orders from the doctor is a problem because mothers will always follow an economic cliff because they will have to take at least twelve-month leave (Hamad, 2019). At this point, I can encourage all the Republicans and Democrats to be talking about paid leave.

Unpaid maternity leave reduces the motivation of employees or pregnant mothers. It will lead to low production of the company because the employee is demoralized hence finding it hard to work hard towards achieving the objectives of the company. Those in the highest-paid job have been campaigning for family paid leave because it’s a financial cushion to pregnant and newborn mothers (Park, 2019). Lowest paid and middle-class employees will also benefit from the enacted law because, in terms of leave, they will not find it rough.

The absence of paid leave leads to pressure from family members, begging you not to take time off work because they will suffer financial constraints. Due to this, babies are left alone in an intensive care unit as their mothers go back to work before healing. Patients are also forced to leave their partners in deathbeds for fear of losing their jobs. It also impacts on bonding, vaccination, and even breastfeeding for newborn babies since their mothers will have limited time (Park, 2019). As the only earner in a six-person household, the mother of unborn has to choose between unpaid leave to look after the newborn and going to work to pay the bills. It is always a real struggle to make heads meet to take great care of the children.

Unpaid maternity leave brings equality across all the sectors. Businesspersons are not entitled to any paid leave, may it be maternity, sick, or even care of a family member leave (Hamad, 2019). When United States employees are not given maternal leave, equality is there with the unemployed. With equality, low-income mothers will never be discriminated against those in the employment sector.

In the united states, maternity leave will preserve family integrity and promote economic stability to entitled employees to take leave for medical reasons for a child (Van Niel, Bhatia, Riano, Faria, Catapano-Friedman, Ravven, & Mangurian, 2020). If the law is enacted, all employees will be entitled to maternity leave, which will give newborn mothers confidence when having children and in their careers. With this law, companies will now start experiencing a higher production rate since employees will now be relieved of financial constraints during maternity or medical leave (Hamad, 2019). The bill will also lead to happiness among family members, as babies will not be left alone in intensive care. Mothers will have enough time to heal since some of them undergo cesarean delivery. They will also enjoy not less than twelve weeks paid leave, which is relatively enough for a newborn to enjoy breastfeeding from their mothers. Employees will now be interested in their jobs because they know leave law is passed. The US should follow examples of states like New Jersey, Washington state, and New York, which has passed its own paid family leave laws.

Reference

Siregar, A. Y., Pitriyan, P., Walters, D., Brown, M., Phan, L. T., & Mathisen, R. (2019). The financing need for expanded maternity protection in Indonesia. International breastfeeding journal, 14(1), 27.

Park, T. Y., Lee, E. S., & Budd, J. W. (2019). What do unions do for mothers? Paid maternity leave use and the multifaceted roles of labor unions. ILR Review, 72(3), 662-692.

Hamad, R., Modrek, S., & White, J. S. (2019). Paid family leave effects on breastfeeding: a quasi-experimental study of US policies. American journal of public health, 109(1), 164-166.

Van Niel, M. S., Bhatia, R., Riano, N. S., de Faria, L., Catapano-Friedman, L., Ravven, S., ... & Mangurian, C. (2020). The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on the Mental and Physical Health of Mothers and Children: A Review of the Literature and Policy Implications. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 28(2), 113-126.