Paid Maternity Leave

Today, American women are more educated and empowered than ever before. Women comprise forty-seven percent of the workforce in the United States of America (Livingston). They have been transitioning into the labor force not only to further their careers but also to support their families. In “forty percent of American families, a woman is the sole or primary breadwinner” (Livingston). Women play an essential role in the economy and in their families. Despite that, the United States is the only high income country without paid maternity leave (Messer). Maternity leave is the vital time a mother takes off of work to take care of herself and her newborn after childbirth. However, eighty-eight percent of women in America do not have access to paid maternity leave (Shortall). American women are forced to put their careers and financial stability at risk simply because they want to have children.
It is not just that America's attitude differs from the rest of the world; the gap in maternal leave has its roots in the aftermath of World War Two. European social democracies that formed after the war “wanted paid leave policies in part because of their concern about replenishing the population," claims Ruth Milkman, a professor of sociology at CUNY (Kurtzleben). Europe
suffered massive casualties and needed more people join the workforce, so they lured women in with these policies. Meanwhile, when American troops came home, it meant less of a need for women in the workplace. The Rosie the Riveter attitude that inspired women to take over factory jobs during the war came to an end. When American women returned to take care of the household, there was less of a reason to create policies that helped them stay in the workforce, explains Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership on Women and Families (Kurtzleben).
However, as the years passed on, more women began joining the workforce.
This led to the revival of the question on maternity leave. Becoming a new parent is a huge undertaking, and for mothers who are forced to take unpaid family leave, the situation becomes infinitely more challenging. Paid maternity leave is needed to encourage women to take time off to cope with the formidable health implications of childbirth rather than rushing back to work. Taking advantage of this policy will not only benefit women’s health, but will be economically profitable to women and individual businesses. Considering these facts, the United States should institute a law requiring paid maternity leave to working
mothers.