The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 states that new moms can take 3 months off with no pay and have their position and benefits status held for them. Dads can also make use of this leave policy, but I think this is rare. Prior to passage of this bill in 1993, leave policies were entirely at the employer's discretion.
If you look through Wikipedia's summary of countries' leave policies, the U.S. and Swaziland are the only two countries that do not offer some amount of paid leave time! Many countries also mandate the option of taking more than 3 months off.
I know that paid leave and extended periods of leave have economic costs and productivity implications. However, there are definitely costs associated with limited leave, such as lesser bonding time with your newborn, less time to establish and continue breastfeeding, not to mention the cost of extra child care.
At our final childbirth class, we all shared our plans for after baby's arrival. I was surprised and impressed that about half of the women said they were not going back to work at all. The rest of us said we'd be starting work again after a period ranging from six weeks to one year. There was one dad (a grad student at Princeton) who was planning to take a semester of paternity leave.
I would definitely support more generous family leave policies. I especially think fathers could benefit - they should be able to get a taste of life at home with Baby without having to worry about job security or loss of pay.
Wow, I didn't realize the US didn't offer paid time off at all! That's crazy! They should really be changing that. I still can't get used to such short maternity leaves here. In Canada we're used to someone being on maternity leave for a year! I agree that a longer time off is definitely beneficial. (By the way, nice new blog design!) :)
ReplyDeleteIt depends on which state you live in ( or get paid from). What she describes is the minimum imposed by the US government. In California for example, the state requires that 1% of your salary goes into a fund that is then used for family leave ( paid by the state, not your employer). Fathers can take up to 6 weeks of paid family leave at 55% of their salary ( there is also a maximum amount). I don't know what the benefits are for mothers, since graduate student are not given any benefits. UCSD has official policy that as long as the advisor has enough funds, you can stay home for 4 weeks and not lose any salary. Generally, for graduate students you make a deal with your advisor and don't worry about official rules.
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