United States Congress vs. Maternity Leave The maternity law currently in the United States is named the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The FMLA is a federal law that “requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months” ("State Family and Medical Leave Laws"). Also it is “the first job protected national maternity leave policy” in the United States (Berger). This act was the fist medical leave act in United States, made in 1993 to “promote economic stability and preserve family integrity, to entitle employees to take leave for medical reason to care for a child…and to provide equal employment opportunity for men and women” (Berger).The …show more content…
Currently today, there are only two industrialized countries in the world that do not provide paid leave to women for maternity, they are the United States and Australia (Vahratian, 177).The United States of America is a leading power of the world and it maternity leave is unpaid. Since the FMLA is a federal law, some states in America have chosen to change this act. California, New Jersey and Rhode Island these states offer paid maternity leave (“The Family and Medical Leave Act - Wage and Hour Division (WHD)…"). Out of fifty states in America only three give mothers paid maternity leave. However, in these states there are problems with the legislations; for example, in California, the act provides paid leave for four week antenatal (before birth) and six to eight weeks postnatal (after birth). However, 52% of women continued to work until the birth of their baby, thirty-two percent took antenatal leave and return to work. The rest of the women, 9% left their jobs, 5% cut their hours and 2% were fired (Vahratian, 177). Women who work in low wage and part-time are vulnerable because they are not eligible for the …show more content…
During the first six weeks mothers and babies have a “give-and-take [relationship] …to create a bond, which will form the basis of … [the mother and child] relationship…[and] the foundation for [the]…child to develop…with others” ("Childhood Development…”). Six weeks, is not much time compared to rest of the world in paid maternity leave but it is enough time for mother to bond with their child. Although, mothers may want more than six weeks paid to spend with their newborn it is all the United States can do. This six weeks paid is just a step into the right direction of maternity leave. If the act was change to a full twelve weeks paid instead of six weeks it would cost the companies more and may even hurt companies profit because they will be giving the benefit to all working women. However, if the act is only six weeks paid companies would be able the change of the act without much damage to a companies profits. Those six weeks paid leave would give mothers time to bond with their child and help to support themselves and their families, and it is a positive step towards providing equal opportunity for working mothers in the work place. Maternity leave for mothers is period to build a bond with their newborn and to relax. When mothers have to deal with the stress of