Maternity Leave Ethics

Introduction
Is it no secret that in the United States, paid maternity leave is severely lacking compared to other developed countries. The US offers zero weeks of guaranteed paid leave for new mothers, whereas other countries offer anywhere from 15 to 50 weeks (Beadle). When I viewed Rosie the Riveter by Howard J. Miller, I questioned the importance of women in the work force, and wondered how an increase in women could increase the amount of money within an industry, and whether or not drawing women into a field of work to earn more money is ethical or unethical. Through research, I discovered that an increase of women did in fact mean more money for an industry, and that raising maternity leave to draw women in is unethical.
In section
7 of A World Without Work, Derek Thompson states, “decades from now, perhaps the 20th century will strike future historians as an aberration…{with its} attenuations of family in service to job opportunity,”. Indeed, it is of the utmost importance to parents to consider the effects their work will have on their children. The amount, if any, of paid leave new mothers will receive is a vital factor for women when considering what line of work to enter. Women are looking for jobs that will guarantee higher than average amounts of paid maternity leave, and the technology industry has caught on. Companies throughout Silicon Valley, the part of California dedicated to major technological companies, began raising their maternity leave with the purpose of attracting women to their workforce (Covert). It would appear that Silicon Valley is revolutionizing paid leave in the US, however, they are not doing so for no reason. Women in the workforce are considered diverse, and when a company has a more diverse workforce, they gain more money from overall investment (Greenberg).
It is evident now that the companies in the technology industry are motivated by money, and competition with one another (Greenberg). However, some argue that improved paid leave leads to gender equality in the workforce. A lack of paid leave leads to a low number of women in leadership roles in the technology industry. Therefore, when paid leave is implemented, women are more likely to apply for leadership roles that would typically be filled by men (Burt). On the other hand, it doesn’t appear that better benefits always leads women to aim higher. In fact, there is little correlation between better benefits, such as better paid leave, and the motivation of individuals to do better work (Tugend).
There is definitely an argument on the effects of raising paid maternity leave, which is the basis of this research paper. Is it ethical for companies within the technology industry to use higher paid maternity leave as a means to draw women in to make more money? When questioning the ethics of something, there are many perspectives to consider, and this paper analyzes only the aspects of how companies compete for employees and seek to gain better investment through diversity. This paper ultimately argues that it is unethical for companies to use better paid maternity leave to lure in women as a way to receive better investments. Furthermore, the paper argues that to amend the unethical way companies seek to gain money, that the US should implement a more beneficial form of guaranteed paid maternity leave mandated for all companies.
Although it is still a question of interest, this paper will not look at paid paternity leave. Paid paternity leave is not targeted as strongly by the technology industry as paid maternity leave is.
The Current State of Maternity Leave

As stated at the beginning of the paper, the US is far behind other countries when it comes to maternity leave.
There is no mandatory paid leave. Companies are required to provide new mothers with 12 weeks of leave without pay. However, this unpaid leave comes at a cost. The new mother must be employed at a firm with 50 or more employees, must have worked at the same place of employment for 12 months, and must have accumulated at least 1,250 hours of work within those 12 months (Wikipedia). Compared to other developed countries, this is an astoundingly low form of of leave. In China, mothers are given 98 days of paid leave at either their full working salary, or maternity allowance provided by maternity insurance. 15 days of the total 98 may be taken before the birth, with an additional 15 days per child if the woman gives birth to multiples, and an additional 15 days if the birth is especially hard (Zhang). In Australia, mothers are given up to 18 weeks of paid leave, being paid at the national minimum wage. The government supplies money to the employer, who then pays the new mother (Global Legal Monitor). In the Netherlands, mothers are given 16 weeks of paids leave, six before the birth, and ten after. They receive their full salary (Expatica). These are just three examples of how every other first-world country outshines the US as far as paid maternity leave goes. Even countries that offer only a portion of the original working salary offer more than the US. Furthermore,
what really sets these countries apart from the US is their mandates. In the US, employers choose if they offer paid leave, and for how long, as long as their policy meets the requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (Wikipedia).
Technology Appealing to Women
Major companies such as Google and Netflix have begun imposing new and improved forms of paid maternity leave to attract women, and keep them working.
As said previously, major technological companies are working to draw women into their field (Covert). For example, Google observed a drop of 50% in the total number of women quitting when the implemented a system of paid leave (Truong). Mothers and women with interest to become mothers are more likely to stay in a job when it has better than average benefits for them. Similarly, the company Etsy began offering its corporate employees 26 weeks of flexible paid leave. Eight of these weeks are to be taken immediately after the birth, with the other 18 being taken off and on over a period of two years. Furthermore, Netflix now offers unlimited paid leave for the first year after birth (Lam). These are all exemplary new forms of paid leave in the US, and they are having the desired effects. More and more women are turning towards the technology field for work (Kashen). Companies are constantly competing for employees, and better benefits can be used to draw employees from one company to another. Furthermore, as stated earlier, the more diverse a company’s workforce, the more money they receive from investments. Women make up a large number of the demographic considered to be diverse, especially in predominantly male workforces like technology. The company with the most diverse workforce will get the most money from overall
investments.