Paid Parental
Leave in the United States Compared with Other Countries
Carrie DeLucia
Professor Ball
Human Resource Management
March 1, 2015
When did succeeding in industry become more important than family? While no one really wants to admit that this is the case, it is evident every day when a parent is given parental leave benefits. After having or adopting a child, people around the world are afforded a certain amount of paid time off. Each country has different laws regarding time off for both mothers and fathers. The United States is among the top performing countries in the entire world, but comes in almost last in supplying parental leave to its citizens compared to other countries.
Parental leave can be broken down into two parts. The first component of parental leave is protected leave. Protected leave is the amount of time that a person can be away from his or her job and be guaranteed to have the same position when he or she returns (Livingston, 2013). The second half of parental leave is paid leave. Paid leave is the amount of time that a parent can be off of work in order to care for a new child and still be paid. In most cases around the world, the government is the entity paying the employee, not the employer (Livingston, 2013). There are some employers that will also provide benefits to employees, but those are on an individual basis.
Gretchen Livingston compared thirty-eight countries regarding paid and protected time off given to both mothers and fathers after the birth or adoption of a new child (2013). Of the countries examined, the United States is the only country that does not provide and paid time off for its citizens (Livingston, 2013). In 1993, however, the United States enacted the Family and Medical Leave Act which provides twelve weeks of unpaid, protected time off for an employee who works for a company of at least fifty employees and who has been employed there for at least a year (Livingston, 2013). Among the thirty-eight countries compared, the United States has the lowest benefit time.
Other countries seems to be on board with providing at least some benefits to parents, usually the mothers, after a new child is added to the family. Iran allows a mother to receive two-thirds of her wages for twelve weeks following the child and the country of Georgia receive eighteen full weeks at one-hundred percent wage rate (Tepper, 2014). Even the country of Mongolia, whose GDP is about one-third that of the state of Vermont’s, provides seventeen weeks of paid time off at seventy percent of a mother’s previous wages. Of the 185 countries overseen by the United Nations International Labor Organization, the United States is one of only two countries that does not have paid parental benefits for its citizens (Tepper, 2014).
In fifteen countries who have been identified by the World Economic Forum, The United States is the only country that does not guarantee paid leave for the mother (Earle, Mokomane, & Heymann, 2011). Of those countries, The United States and Switzerland are the only ones that give no benefits at all to the father (Earle, Mokomane, & Heymann, 2011). In a similar fashion, thirteen countries with consistently low unemployment rates were examined. “The majority of these countries provide paid leave for new mothers, paid leave for new fathers, paid leave to care for children’s health care needs, breast-feeding breaks, paid vacation leave, and a weekly day of rest. Of these, the United States guarantees only breast-feeding breaks” (Earle, Mokomane, & Heymann, 2011).
There are some promising locations in the United States, however. In addition to the Family and Medical Leave Act, each state has the ability to mandate its own parental benefits. Currently, the states of New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, California and Rhode Island, all provide a benefit to the mother, but all have very different benefit amounts (Tepper, 2014). In 2013, two senators from New York introduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, which would provide twelve weeks of paid leave at two-thirds salary for new mothers (Tepper,2014). Currently, this has not been signed into a law.
There is a great deal of benefits to having a parent return to work as late as possible after having a new child. Both the parent and the child can have lasting effects from increased time together after birth or adoption. These benefits are not only emotional, but physical as well.
Children can experience difficulties in life if a parent (usually the mother) goes back to work too soon after a child is born. A study was conducted in Norway following children who were born in July of 1977 (Carneiro, Loken, & Salvanes, 2011). A mother who gave birth to her child before this date were entitled to twelve weeks of unpaid maternity leave versus the four months paid and twelve months unpaid leave given to women who gave birth after that date (Carneiro, Loken & Salvanes, 2011). This study measured mostly high school drop-out rate and income at age thirty of the children. The results of the study showed that children whose mother was able to have increased time with them had a two point seven percent lower high school drop-out rate and five percent higher income at age thirty (Carneiro, Loken & Salvanes, 2011).
Mothers can also experience emotional problems if they return to work too quickly. In Minnesota, an experiment was done where eligible women were contacted six weeks, twelve weeks, six months, and twelve months after delivery and asked a series of questions (Dagher, McGovern, & Dowd, 2013). The survey measured the mothers on depressive symptoms, mental and physical health and maternal childbirth-related symptoms each time they were interviewed (Dagher, McGovern, & Dowd, 2013). The data gathered in the survey showed that the women who had increased leave time showed a decrease in the depressive symptom area until six months after the child was born as well as a positive correlation between leave duration and physical health (Dagher, McGovern, & Dowd, 2013). The survey concluded with indicating that the current twelve weeks allowed by the Family and Medical Leave Act may not be enough for a mother to avoid postpartum depression (Dagher, McGovern, & Dowd, 2013).
One major decision affecting a mother after having a child is if she is going to breastfeed the baby. There have been countless studies conducted all showing that breastfeeding is beneficial to both the mother and the baby. Many mothers, unfortunately, have to make the decision of how long to breastfeed based on how long they will be off of work. In 2007, Germany reformed its laws and extended the amount of time parents were able to be off of work after the birth of a child (Kottwitz, Oppermann & Spiess, 2014). The German Socio-Economic Panel Study was conducted from 2002 through 2012 and measured the following three breastfeeding scenarios against the 2007 reform: 1) No breastfeeding at all, 2) Breastfeeding for four months and 3) Breastfeeding for six months (Kottwitz, Oppermann & Spiess, 2014). ). The results of this study found that the women who benefited from the reform were more likely to breastfeed for at least four months (Kottwitz, Oppermann & Spiess, 2014). ).
Why do countries differ so greatly on the types of benefits and the amount of time given to parents? Stan Veuger explains that parental leave costs employers money, and a large portion of that money spent is on maternity leave (2013). He also explains that since this maternity leave costs the employers so much money, they pay women less in the countries where these benefits are so great. These types of pay gaps can only exist in countries that do not lobby much for equal opportunities in the workplace for women (Veuger, 2013).
Women have been rallying for equal opportunities in the workplace for a very long time. Many studies have been conducted to try to figure out why women get paid less and have less opportunities in the workplace, and unfortunately, it seems as if maternity benefits play a factor in that (Dias, 2011, 75). Management in the workplace may look at a woman and assume that she may end up needing maternity leave that this leave may affect her ability to be promoted in the future (Dias, 2011, 75). Another study has suggested that women end up getting paid less because they work fewer overall hours due to family or maternity leave (Dias, 2011, 188).
The United States government must take a look at the benefits given to both men and women after a new child has been added to a family and go through a drastic reformation. Essentially, every other civilized country in the world offers some type of benefit to its citizens. There is no direct correlation between the amount of time off given to a new parent and the economy of the country that parent is a citizen of. There is, however, a direct connection between the amount of time off given and the overall health, productivity and income of the mother and child.
Carrie DeLucia
Professor Ball
Human Resource Management
March 1, 2015
When did succeeding in industry become more important than family? While no one really wants to admit that this is the case, it is evident every day when a parent is given parental leave benefits. After having or adopting a child, people around the world are afforded a certain amount of paid time off. Each country has different laws regarding time off for both mothers and fathers. The United States is among the top performing countries in the entire world, but comes in almost last in supplying parental leave to its citizens compared to other countries.
Parental leave can be broken down into two parts. The first component of parental leave is protected leave. Protected leave is the amount of time that a person can be away from his or her job and be guaranteed to have the same position when he or she returns (Livingston, 2013). The second half of parental leave is paid leave. Paid leave is the amount of time that a parent can be off of work in order to care for a new child and still be paid. In most cases around the world, the government is the entity paying the employee, not the employer (Livingston, 2013). There are some employers that will also provide benefits to employees, but those are on an individual basis.
Gretchen Livingston compared thirty-eight countries regarding paid and protected time off given to both mothers and fathers after the birth or adoption of a new child (2013). Of the countries examined, the United States is the only country that does not provide and paid time off for its citizens (Livingston, 2013). In 1993, however, the United States enacted the Family and Medical Leave Act which provides twelve weeks of unpaid, protected time off for an employee who works for a company of at least fifty employees and who has been employed there for at least a year (Livingston, 2013). Among the thirty-eight countries compared, the United States has the lowest benefit time.
Other countries seems to be on board with providing at least some benefits to parents, usually the mothers, after a new child is added to the family. Iran allows a mother to receive two-thirds of her wages for twelve weeks following the child and the country of Georgia receive eighteen full weeks at one-hundred percent wage rate (Tepper, 2014). Even the country of Mongolia, whose GDP is about one-third that of the state of Vermont’s, provides seventeen weeks of paid time off at seventy percent of a mother’s previous wages. Of the 185 countries overseen by the United Nations International Labor Organization, the United States is one of only two countries that does not have paid parental benefits for its citizens (Tepper, 2014).
In fifteen countries who have been identified by the World Economic Forum, The United States is the only country that does not guarantee paid leave for the mother (Earle, Mokomane, & Heymann, 2011). Of those countries, The United States and Switzerland are the only ones that give no benefits at all to the father (Earle, Mokomane, & Heymann, 2011). In a similar fashion, thirteen countries with consistently low unemployment rates were examined. “The majority of these countries provide paid leave for new mothers, paid leave for new fathers, paid leave to care for children’s health care needs, breast-feeding breaks, paid vacation leave, and a weekly day of rest. Of these, the United States guarantees only breast-feeding breaks” (Earle, Mokomane, & Heymann, 2011).
There are some promising locations in the United States, however. In addition to the Family and Medical Leave Act, each state has the ability to mandate its own parental benefits. Currently, the states of New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, California and Rhode Island, all provide a benefit to the mother, but all have very different benefit amounts (Tepper, 2014). In 2013, two senators from New York introduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, which would provide twelve weeks of paid leave at two-thirds salary for new mothers (Tepper,2014). Currently, this has not been signed into a law.
There is a great deal of benefits to having a parent return to work as late as possible after having a new child. Both the parent and the child can have lasting effects from increased time together after birth or adoption. These benefits are not only emotional, but physical as well.
Children can experience difficulties in life if a parent (usually the mother) goes back to work too soon after a child is born. A study was conducted in Norway following children who were born in July of 1977 (Carneiro, Loken, & Salvanes, 2011). A mother who gave birth to her child before this date were entitled to twelve weeks of unpaid maternity leave versus the four months paid and twelve months unpaid leave given to women who gave birth after that date (Carneiro, Loken & Salvanes, 2011). This study measured mostly high school drop-out rate and income at age thirty of the children. The results of the study showed that children whose mother was able to have increased time with them had a two point seven percent lower high school drop-out rate and five percent higher income at age thirty (Carneiro, Loken & Salvanes, 2011).
Mothers can also experience emotional problems if they return to work too quickly. In Minnesota, an experiment was done where eligible women were contacted six weeks, twelve weeks, six months, and twelve months after delivery and asked a series of questions (Dagher, McGovern, & Dowd, 2013). The survey measured the mothers on depressive symptoms, mental and physical health and maternal childbirth-related symptoms each time they were interviewed (Dagher, McGovern, & Dowd, 2013). The data gathered in the survey showed that the women who had increased leave time showed a decrease in the depressive symptom area until six months after the child was born as well as a positive correlation between leave duration and physical health (Dagher, McGovern, & Dowd, 2013). The survey concluded with indicating that the current twelve weeks allowed by the Family and Medical Leave Act may not be enough for a mother to avoid postpartum depression (Dagher, McGovern, & Dowd, 2013).
One major decision affecting a mother after having a child is if she is going to breastfeed the baby. There have been countless studies conducted all showing that breastfeeding is beneficial to both the mother and the baby. Many mothers, unfortunately, have to make the decision of how long to breastfeed based on how long they will be off of work. In 2007, Germany reformed its laws and extended the amount of time parents were able to be off of work after the birth of a child (Kottwitz, Oppermann & Spiess, 2014). The German Socio-Economic Panel Study was conducted from 2002 through 2012 and measured the following three breastfeeding scenarios against the 2007 reform: 1) No breastfeeding at all, 2) Breastfeeding for four months and 3) Breastfeeding for six months (Kottwitz, Oppermann & Spiess, 2014). ). The results of this study found that the women who benefited from the reform were more likely to breastfeed for at least four months (Kottwitz, Oppermann & Spiess, 2014). ).
Why do countries differ so greatly on the types of benefits and the amount of time given to parents? Stan Veuger explains that parental leave costs employers money, and a large portion of that money spent is on maternity leave (2013). He also explains that since this maternity leave costs the employers so much money, they pay women less in the countries where these benefits are so great. These types of pay gaps can only exist in countries that do not lobby much for equal opportunities in the workplace for women (Veuger, 2013).
Women have been rallying for equal opportunities in the workplace for a very long time. Many studies have been conducted to try to figure out why women get paid less and have less opportunities in the workplace, and unfortunately, it seems as if maternity benefits play a factor in that (Dias, 2011, 75). Management in the workplace may look at a woman and assume that she may end up needing maternity leave that this leave may affect her ability to be promoted in the future (Dias, 2011, 75). Another study has suggested that women end up getting paid less because they work fewer overall hours due to family or maternity leave (Dias, 2011, 188).
The United States government must take a look at the benefits given to both men and women after a new child has been added to a family and go through a drastic reformation. Essentially, every other civilized country in the world offers some type of benefit to its citizens. There is no direct correlation between the amount of time off given to a new parent and the economy of the country that parent is a citizen of. There is, however, a direct connection between the amount of time off given and the overall health, productivity and income of the mother and child.