Essay On Paid Parental Leave

Currently in the United States, new parents are only guaranteed twelve unpaid weeks to take care of their new infant or adopted child. However in other OECD countries, parents are offered an average of ten months of parental leave where some countries, such as Germany, will extend the leave up to 39 months (Berger and Waldfogel 2001). In 1993, the United States federal government finally passed a law that would help with job protection for parents and allow them to take time off to care for their new infant and recover from labor (Ruhm 2000). However, the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) does not give paid parental leave, rather it is only twelve unpaid weeks. For parents in states such as California, mainly mothers, would have to apply for PFL (Parental Family Leave) which is under SDI (State Disability Insurance) to receive some sort of paid leave. PFL only allows mothers to be paid for 4 weeks before the birth, and 6 weeks after a vaginal birth, or 8 weeks for Caesarean section . Only five states, one of them being California, offer these chances for parents to take a paid leave
Reasons for this might be due to gender stereotypes that were still in place during this time period. Fathers most likely were not given time off due to the fact that child care fell under the role for mothers. With this stereotype being the norm, it was hard for women in the workforce to take off time to give birth or recover from the labor without risking the loss of their job. The FMLA is progress from these times, but it is still problematic due to the fact that it doesn’t give parents enough time to bond with their child or improve their health without risking financial problems. However, if the parent choose to work instead of taking the allotted 12 weeks, the risks of infant mortality and health problems for the child