The Flaws in Maternity Leave in the US

The issues surrounding maternity leave in the US, how it compares to other countries, and the effects it has on mother and child

By: Harriet Bennett

Compared to other wealthy countries, the US is very far behind in terms of maternity leave. While the US offers zero weeks of paid maternity leave, the UK offers 52, Japan 52 or more, Sweden 68, and Estonia 82 or more. That is more than a year and a half of paid maternity leave for Estonians.

The decades-old notion of the American Dream could contribute to how bad maternity leave is in the US—the idea that people need to work for everything they have and want instead of being given money. But maternity leave doesn’t seem like something that people should have to work for. A shorter maternity leave has negative effects on both the mother and child. 

For example, a study done by the Society for Research in Child Development found that shorter leaves resulted in “lower levels of maternal sensitivity and increased negative affect during interactions with the child.” Another study done at Fordham University found a link between maternity leave and attachment: infants whose mothers did not take maternity leave had more separation anxiety. Other studies have found that shorter maternity leaves can lead to poorer health and increased depression and that mothers who took longer maternity leave were at a lower risk for violence exhibited from their partners.

Maternity leave in the US has always been worse than in other wealthy countries, having never had paid maternity leave. It hasn’t changed since 1993, when Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which offers 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for newborns or ill family members. Within this act lie other issues: this unpaid leave is not available to 40% of US workers.

Though the 12 weeks that Americans are offered give them job security, many of those who are eligible for leave do not take it because they can’t afford to take 12 weeks off of work without pay. Not to mention the cost of having a child, which is just under $13,000 annually for a middle-income two-child household. California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island require paid family leave, but are the only states in the US to do so. This means that 14% of Americans have access to paid family leave. There was an alternative House proposal for paid leave which would allow parents to make a savings account that would be used to care for the child and that they wouldn’t have to pay taxes on. The money in the account would be used when they went on parental leave. A similar proposal was made in Minnesota, but so far nothing has come of it.

Recently, the Biden administration has proposed paid maternity leave for 12 weeks. Some lawmakers have tried to reduce it to four weeks, but we will have to wait and see if it passes at all. This new act would guarantee 12 weeks of paid leave at a minimum two-thirds salary, with a minimum of $4000 a month. This act would extend to those who are on maternity leave, those who are caring for a family member, those who are battling a serious illness, those whose loved ones have been deployed by the military, those who are mourning the loss of a loved one, and those who are recovering from domestic violence or sexual assault. This act was introduced to the House in 2019 but has not been passed.

The new act would be a huge step in the right direction. Even if only four of the 12 weeks are paid, it would make a big difference in the health and well being of 14% of American families. But more needs to be done. To really address the problem surrounding maternity leave, all families need to be covered, and they would need more time for maternity leave to really make a difference.