The Negative Issue Of Maternnity Leave

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The topic of maternity leave has been a controversial subject among working women for many years. In 1993, Bill Clinton, during his first term, signed the Family and Medical Leave Act. This law mandated a minimum of 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave (“Maternity Leave Laws - FamilyEducation”). This applied to new mothers everywhere. Now even though mothers are receiving a 12-week leave, many believe that they should receive payment while away. So together politicians and women’s advocacy groups called on lawmakers to mandate paid leave for new moms. They declared that the lack of this policy was unfair to women and detrimental to the economy. Over the last two decades, new study has occurred, and the national economy has grown by 66%. The gross domestic product (adjusted for inflation) rose from $9.9 trillion to $16.4 trillion a year (MacMillan). During that time, new family leave policies have been implemented in three states (California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island). Even though paid maternity leave may seem good and some have …show more content…

Some take it and then there are some that leave it. Reason behind this is simply, some women believe that if they do receive it they run the risk of losing their job. It could also be said that women will choose to leave the work force if employers don’t apply payment to their leave. Well to this, it becomes a lose-lose situation for hiring women. Another researched showed that 63% percent of Americans don’t have enough money saved up to provide for the new baby (Malacoff). If a woman were to leave work while not having paid leave, she still has every day expenses. Because of this very reason, new mothers would much rather go back to work to receive any form pay so they can provide for the child. So, the question is, “Why should employers provide maternity leave if majority women are going to reject it due to not having enough

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