Paid parental leave key to healthy future of US
Paid parental leave is vital for health outcomes of infants and parents. It reduces infant mortality rate, decreases domestic violence, increases financial and job security and promotes autonomy in decision-making.
Many countries have implemented this policy but unfortunately, not the United States. According to the report by UNICEF in 2019, all of 41 developed countries in the study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development offer different ranges of benefits with Estonia offering the highest (86 weeks of leave at full pay) while the U.S was the only country that offered absolutely no national paid parental/ family leave.
While some states and private employers already have considered paid parental/family leave, certain members of Congress say that labor and economic markets will suffer when parents become dependent on a safety net. It is time for Congress to enact the paid parental leave as a national standard law.
The most recent constitutional reform was in 1993 when The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was established. FMLA benefits remain the same as then, allowing eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year with only approximately 60% of workers eligible for such benefit.
Despite strong public support, opponents cite concerns that such a mandated benefit will have a significant impact on businesses and impose a financial burden for employers balancing labor costs and payout benefits. Although pregnancy is not a legitimate cause for termination, employers might rely on voluntary employer policies to consider this as an alternative mechanism to decrease financial difficulties. Ultimately, by not having to offer paid maternity leave benefits, small businesses may decrease the risk of productivity loss.
Though some veracity can be appreciated, according to research, parental leave will in fact facilitate and encourage job security and decrease employee turnover rate. Additionally, access to paid parental leave will offer many health and economic benefits. First, with modern role and gender transformation, paid parental leave would reduce dependence on one another for economic assistance and would decrease the probability of needing to receive temporary welfare benefits after having eligibility determined (Chai et al., 2021; Montoya-williams et al., 2020).
Consequently, paid parental leave decreases the gender-wage gap when expectant and new parents can provide for their children while making autonomous decisions. Women who financially depend on male partners are at risk of incurring violence because of patriarchal gender norms that shape political outcomes in policy terms, according to the Chai study. Therefore, federal maternity paid leave in the U.S. will provide an adequate safety net and decrease financial dependence and domestic violence.
Paid maternity leave improves physical and mental health for infants and parents by decreasing maternal postpartum depression, increasing bonding time and allowing adequate time for recovery from pregnancy and childbirth, and most importantly, decreases infant mortality rates.
According to recent research, about half of the women who took paid maternity leave experienced a decrease of potentially being rehospitalized at 21 months postpartum, and a reduction of 50% chance of hospitalization of their infants compared to women taking unpaid or no leave. Such results give grounds for a national paid parental leave law at the federal level.
This law should be offered into three categories: 1) maternity leave, available to mothers around the time of a birth or adoption; 2) paternity leave, available to fathers around the time of a birth or adoption; 3) parental leave, which typically is available after maternity or paternity leave. This could be funded by federal, state, employer and employees contributions.
With an increasing number of states offering paid parental leave, the U.S has achieved momentum. As mothers, as well as health care providers with 25 years of nursing experience and soon-to-be APRNS, we see the significant benefit paid parental leave will have on our society. More than ever, we urge the Congress to enact the paid parental leave at the federal level for a healthy future of our nation.