Paid Maternity Leave - Why Maternity Leave Is Beneficial

Paid Maternity Leave

Introduction

Why maternity leave is beneficial

According to the Save the Children - State of the World Mothers 2012 report, "much of a child's future - and in fact much of a nation's future - is determined by the quality of nutrition in the first 1,000 days. The period from the start of a mother's pregnancy through her child's second birthday is a critical window when a child's brain and body are developing rapidly and good nutrition is essential to lay the foundation for a healthy and productive future. If children do not get the right nutrients during this period, the damage is often irreversible".

Poor compliance with breastfeeding recommendations costs the world economy billions of dollars each year. In the United States alone, it is estimated that low rates of breastfeeding add $13 billion to medical costs and lead to 911 excess deaths every year (Save, 2012). Perhaps the most effective way to improve breastfeeding rates is to provide longer periods of paid maternity leave. Countries with generous maternity and parental leave policies - such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden - tend to have high breastfeeding rates. Public health researchers in the United States recently found that women whose maternity leave lasted longer than six weeks were more likely to initiate breastfeeding, continue for more than six months and rely mostly on exclusive breastfeeding beyond three months, compared with women who returned to work between one and six weeks after giving birth. Many countries have also enacted laws to enable mothers to have paid nursing breaks, some up to one hour paid per day as long as the mother needs. Others allow nursing breaks, but they are unpaid. However, child care must remain close to the mothers' employer in order for this to work (Save, 2012).

One way to improve the nutrition of mothers and children is to improve laws, policies and actions that support families and encourage breastfeeding. Governments in all countries can do more to help parents and create a supportive environment for breastfeeding. Governments and partners should adopt policies that are child-friendly and support breastfeeding mothers. Such policies would give families access to maternal and paternal leave, ensure that workplaces and public facilities offer women a suitable place to feed their babies outside of the home, and ensure working women are guaranteed breastfeeding breaks while on the job.

Maternity leave benefits both the child and the mother. Every 10 weeks of extra maternity allotted to the mother decreases the infant's mortality rate by 2.6 percent (Ward, 2005). Longer leave has also been proven to reduce stress to mother, reducing birth complications and premature birth (Rossin, 2011). Paid maternity leave also increases birth rates in applicable countries while reducing the costs of giving birth. Studies have proven there is a direct negative impact on behavioral traits and interactions with both the mother and child given a shortened length of maternal leave (Clark, 1997).

Argument against maternity leave

The primary argument against maternity leave comes from the perspective of the business owner or manager. Many business owners and managers believe that the costs associated with maternity leave are extremely burdensome to the company. In Canada, with an employee permitted a year long absence without fear of losing their job, employers must find a temporary replacement. This involves job advertising costs, fees for recruiters, time to review resumes, interviews, reference checks, negotiating terms, and training expenses. If there is an overlap with the old employee and the new one then there is double the wages. The higher the responsibilities the more complex the challenge of finding a replacement.

An additional consideration could be the added resentment from other employees who are left to handle the added workload when the new mother goes on maternity leave. This can cause morale problems within the organization.

The potential for discrimination against young job seekers especially if they are in their childbearing years is also greater (Budak, 2011). However, the "maternity leave issue is bound to escalate as the future labour force will be increasingly made up of women. Women make up more than 50% of post-secondary graduates" (Budak, 2011). So employers will need to reconsider how they approach maternity leave and top-ups as it will be a buyer's market.

Who provides maternity leave now?

At least 178 countries around the world guarantee paid leave for working moms, while more than 50 countries offer benefits for fathers. Of the over 170 countries offering some paid maternity leave, 98 of them offer at least 14 weeks off with pay (Paid Leave, 2007). The United States, Liberia, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland are the only countries in the world without government mandated maternity leave. Canada is somewhere in the middle when it comes to parental benefits ranking. Countries like Sweden offer 420 days leave paid at 80% of wages. Canada covers 55% of a new mothers annual earnings for anywhere from 17 to 52 weeks and the last 35 weeks can be taken by either parent. The majority of countries in Europe, much like Canada, institute social programs which pay for all or most of a mother's leave (Paid Leave, 2007). Quite a few European countries lead the way internationally in maternity leave. Government programs in these countries tend to cover 100 % of wages for up to 18 weeks, while Croatia, Serbia, and Denmark lead the pack giving mothers 100% of their wages for one full year. Of the other government run maternity leave programs, on average these countries pay 83% wages while averaging 15.46 weeks of leave for the mother (Huffington Post, 2012).

Is it ethical to provide paid maternity leave?

Examination will be made into the different ethical theories to determine which ones support or reject our claim that paid maternity leave is beneficial and should be implemented by the United States.

Deontology (Kantian Ethics - Ethics of Principles)

When we examine the ethical theory of Deontology, we are focusing on duties, rights, and principles. The emphasis is placed on doing what is "right" as determined by our duties or a moral law. This duty to do what is right is expected regardless of the outcome. Immanuel Kant has played an important role in developing deontological ethics and Kant's theories are