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Maternity Leave Group 2: Arely Gaytan, Fatima Khansia, Francesca Pucciarelli, Paige Austin, Rachel Spies, Nhi Vo
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Maternity Leave

Jan 11, 2017

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Arely Gaytan
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Page 1: Maternity Leave

Maternity Leave

Group 2: Arely Gaytan, Fatima Khansia,

Francesca Pucciarelli, Paige Austin, Rachel

Spies, Nhi Vo

Page 2: Maternity Leave

“The only family leave available to Americans is unpaid, limited to three months, and covers only about half

the labor force.”-The Three Faces of Work-Family Conflict, Joan C. Williams and Heather Boushey

Page 3: Maternity Leave

Key Issues

Career Choices and Limitations Pay (in regards to field) “Only 12 percent of U.S. private sector workers have access

to paid family leave through their employer” Career Advancement Lack of formal Federal Maternity Leave options Discrimination and Prejudice Health of children/family in general

Page 4: Maternity Leave

The Changes So Far❖“So far, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island,

Connecticut and several cities have passed paid family and medical leave or earned sick days laws”.

❖“In 2015, the Department of Labor will award $1 million for a grant program to help States, municipalities and federally recognized tribes conduct feasibility studies for paid leave programs”.

❖“This investment is in addition to the $500,000 in grants the Department’s Women’s Bureau awarded in 2014 to three States and the District of Columbia”.

❖“The President’s 2016 budget will include more than $2 billion in new funds to encourage States to develop paid family and medical leave programs”.

Page 5: Maternity Leave

How can we continue to improve?

Page 6: Maternity Leave

Potential Solutions Mandatory Maternity Leave Across All Sectors - It should be

required for all organizations in the US to offer Maternity Leave in some facet for their workers.

For example; allowing 12 weeks off for both men and women, but also giving the employees the opportunity to: Work part-time during those 12 weeks Allowing the employees to come back to full-time work

earlier. (This additional labor would be factored in as additional pay, and not part of their yearly salary. Thus, an employee will not be punished for not choosing to come back to work earlier.)

Page 7: Maternity Leave

Improving the Working Environment Creating a friendly and encouraging environment for women,

that supports their decision to have paid time off. Where mothers will not be penalized for leaving (such as having their current position given to someone else, and upon re-entry, the new mother would have to start off at a lower-ranking position).

These sets of new regulations can increase a company’s culture morale, and also make a company more attractive to work for.

“Changes in default office rules should not advantage parents over other workers; indeed, done right, they can improve relations among co-workers by raising their awareness of each other’s circumstances and instilling a sense of fairness” (Slaughter, 2012)

Page 8: Maternity Leave

Working Together to Temporarily Fill Positions Temporary Replacement Plans - Consider how positions can be

filled if a worker goes on maternity leave (use internal workers that are familiar with that area already).

Referring back to the initial ‘potential solution’, the mother on maternity leave can also work part-time with the person who is filling her spot, so she can pick up where they left off.

Create a plan similar to succession planning within each company that gives employees broader knowledge of other departments so they are able to help.

Page 9: Maternity Leave

Joining Labor Unions Because public policy reform generally takes a long time to

initiate, joining labor unions can be an effective temporary, alternative solution.

Currently, “labor unions are the only major U.S. institution equipped to help women overcome barriers in the workplace” (Brofenbrenner, 442).

Labor Unions provide women the opportunity and the platform to get issues discussed and (potentially) solved in the interim before their issues are solved through public policies.

Page 10: Maternity Leave

Potential Barriers & Reasons to Follow-ThroughPublic Policy Models BarriersWhile the universal solutions that we’ve provided won’t stop all problems, as they appear to

have worked in Scandinavian Countries, there is reason to follow!

Challenges Why it will work

1) Incompatibility with Generalized American political Culture (Individual and Merit focused Capitalism) and preferences

1)Women in unions (form of universal solution) benefit from: “smaller gender and racial/ethnic wage gaps, receive higher wages, and have longer job tenure than women workers who are not in unions (Spalter-Roth, Hartmann, and Collins 1994). This increases self-sufficiency, which fosters individualism and meritocracy

2) Poor fit with the unique needs of US families*Week 11 (slides 13-17)

2) “Win rates have been especially high in units with high percentages of women of color, particularly in health care, hotels, food service, building services, home care, and light manufacturing. “ Unions have provided a multitude of benefits in different sectors, which addresses families with different needs

Page 11: Maternity Leave

Does Policy Decide Your Family Structure?

In Response: “A large body of research has failed to find substantial or consistent effects of policy on fertility outcomes...What appears certain is that generous work/family programs are consistent with high levels of fertility in conjunction with high rates of maternal employment” (Gornick & Meyers, 266).

Europe:

“Declining fertility and the possibility that work/family policies are actually contributing to falling birthrates”

VS.

United States:

“Generous social welfare policies could increase fertility and non-marriage, particularly among non-employed mothers”. (Gornick & Meyers, 265)

Page 12: Maternity Leave

Works CitedGornick, Janet C, and Marcia K Meyers. “More Alike than Different: Revisiting the

Long-Term Prospects for Developing ‘“European-Style”’ Work/Family Policies in the United States.” Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis 6.3 (2004): 251 – 273. Print.

Knight, Keith. “Maternity Leave”. The Knight Life. 20 Aug. 2010. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

<http://www.knightlifecomic.com/comic/maternity-leave/>

Slaughter, Anne-Marie. "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, July 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/>.

Suddath, Claire. "Maternity Leave: U.S. Policies Still Fail Workers." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-01-28/maternity-leave-u-s-policies-still-fail-workers>.

Page 13: Maternity Leave

Work Cited Continued Love, Vicky. "The Benefits of Unionization for Workers in the Retail Food Industry."

Institute for Women's Policy Research (2002): n. pag. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Bronfenbrenner, Kate. "Organizing Women." Work and Occupations 4th ser. 32.November 2005 (2005): 441-63. Print.

Williams, Joan C., and Heather Boushey. "Perceived Work-family Conflict." The Three Faces of Work-Family Conflict (2013): n. pag. Cdn.americanprogress.org. Center for American Progress, Jan. 2010. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2010/01/pdf/threefaces_exec_sum.pdf>.

"United States Department of Labor." United States Department of Labor. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.dol.gov/>.