Students and staff at Manchester were interviewed about their views on maternity leave and if they felt The United States should make improvements or if we are fine where we are at.
“In America and correct me if i’m wrong here, but in America there’s no protected amount of maternity leave that every single company has to offer and I think that that is a shame because it is really important for parents to be home with their kids. It’s important for mothers to heal from delivery,” informed Tessa Wilkey, a German and English teacher at Manchester high school.
Based on an article by The Organization of American History on the history of family leave policies in the U.S., there are only eight developed countries in the world that do not guarantee paid family leave at the national level. The U.S. being one of them and the rest all being low to middle income countries.
When asked how they felt about requirements to receive The United States FMLA benefits senior at Manchester, Hayley Robbins responded, “I think this is too many conditions for this amount of leave, and sometimes there are too many circumstances that can create confusion in whether an employee gets maternity leave or not.” With the added notes of Kelly Perrotte, an English teacher at Manchester high school added, “There are way too many caveats, I’m sure there’s a lot more in the business econ situation/H.R. that I’m just ignorant to, but I feel like if you have a full time job with benefits then why is that family not just automatically part of that beneficial package.”
The OAH further informs that the FMLA (the Federal and Medical Leave Act) earliest version was drafted in 1984 under a different name the FESA (the Family Employment Security Act). The FMLA is an act that is meant to provide 12 weeks of unpaid job protected parental leave to men and women of America who have recently had a baby, adopted/foster placement of a child, need to care for a family member with a serious medical condition, or have their own serious medical issue. There, however, are more conditions to consider for eligibility, the individual must work at the company for at least one year and have accumulated at least 1,250 hours at the company within the year, must work for a public agency or private company with at the least 50 employees that are within a 75 mile radius, employees who are within the top 10% pay grade of the company may be excluded.
When asked about how they feel America’s maternity leave policy compares to other nations, specifically Norway who grants up to a year of paid maternity leave, Robbins observed, “America is well behind Norway in the amount of leave. However, it’s difficult to compare because it’s not standardized here so it depends on where you work.” Wilkey further commented on the topic and enlightened, “I think in that regard that Norway seems to really place a value on parents being present in the early lives of the children and it seems that America maybe doesn’t quite have that same emphasis.”
In relation to overseas, Norway, a country ranked as one of the best in their maternity leave policies grants up to 12 months of leave enlightened Nordic Co-operation. They can also be entitled to paid leave from work if they have been working, are a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, and have had pensionable income for at least 6 of the last 10 months before the start of the benefit period; they also may consider unemployment benefits or sickness benefits as the equivalent of working.
“I’m so jealous of the women who get to be stay at home moms but I’m also like so happy for them and so glad that they were able to make that happen… but I also do understand that some women are like ‘no get me back into work’ so personal preference may be taken into consideration so if a woman has a baby I don’t think she should have to stay at home for a whole year but I think it should be an option,” stated Perrotte when asked how important she felt it was for an infant to spend the early part of their life with their parents or caregiver.
A baby’s brain is 90% developed to its adult size by their 3rd year of life and undergoes huge brian development and growth according to The National Library of Health in an article about The importance of early bonding on the long-term mental health and resilience of children. A lack of love, neglect, and parental inconsistency can lead to long lasting mental health problems and reduced prospects for joy which has been shown by growing evidence from the diverse fields of study of animal epigenetic, developmental psychology, and neurobiology.
When answering questions on the subject of maternity leave Perrot expressed, “After having two complicated pregnancies and two complicated deliveries coming back after the 12 weeks, it was just too soon. It’s not a secret that babies just don’t sleep… we talk about women being like ‘you’re a superhero’ but why should we have to be?”
