Maternity Leave United States

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Maternity Leave in the United States
Maternity leave has served as a resource to many women throughout the United States history; it can be defined as “a period of absence from work granted to a mother before and after the birth or adoption of a child” (“Maternity Leave”). Not only does this give the mother an opportunity to take care of her child without obligation and responsibility connected to her employer, but it also enables the mother to recover physically after birth, as this is a pretty physically demanding job to go through. By lengthening the recovery time as well as including pay, it would improve the overall health of the mother and child as well as benefit the U.S government despite the opinion that it could potentially have …show more content…
Furthermore, the biggest question politicians as well as men who feel unequally treated tend to have is- who is going to pay for this policy? Creating a leave policy that financially supports all of our mothers income across the country would be massively expensive not just in taxpayer dollars, but also for companies who are funding paid maternity leave on their own. A ballpark estimate predicts that it would cost the United States a total of 300 million dollars with the primary solution being an increase in tax amounts (“Maternity Leave, Equal Pay, and Unexpected Consequences”). In addition to the worries the government and politicians have about what this new leave policy would cost them, they also fear that creating universal maternity leave that is funded by private sectors and business owners would cause smaller businesses to lose money or even go bankrupt (“Maternity Leave, Equal Pay, and Unexpected Consequences”). Companies such as Google, Facebook, etc. could afford to provide paid maternity leave on their own (as they do now) however, smaller companies and new businesses owners could not afford such a luxury. Therefore, causing them to believe that a universal maternity leave policy is just too expensive no matter the health and mental …show more content…
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “a period of leave shortly after birth improves mother-child relationships… maternity leave benefits may also influence employment and lifetime earnings, which may generate positive outcomes” (Dwyer). By allowing mothers to take time off with their children, they would be able to create a stronger bond between their infant, feel secure with their financial situation, as well as strengthen other intimate relationships within their life. Thus, providing a leave that results in positive outcomes during this sensitive time after birth would allow to a woman not to feel guilty about going back to work sooner than she would like as well as not stress about her employment status. In another article written by the Southern Economic Journal, it looks into the psychological effects maternity leave has on a woman. It found that out of 3,500 adult respondents, women who took 12 or more weeks of maternity leave reported back fewer depressive symptoms such as severe depression and anxiety. This positive statistic is crucial to be aware of because many women suffer from Postpartum Depression throughout this initial 12 weeks after birth. Additionally, women who took longer than 12 weeks as well as received a paid leave reported an improvement in overall physical and mental health (Chatterji and Markowitz 14). Therefore, providing a
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