M: Maternity/Paternity Leave

    Paid family leave combats poverty, gives children a healthy start, and lowers the wage gap between women and men by providing structural support to balance work and family.

    Selena's Story

    Selena's baby boy, Connor, was born six weeks early. As Connor was rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care unit, Selena found herself alone in a hospital bed realizing that she was going to go home well before her baby. "There was no way we could afford for me to take off more than we planned,” recalls Selena. So after Selena had the baby on Thursday, she was released from the hospital Friday, and was back at her desk on Monday morning. “It was the hardest two and a half weeks of my life,” she says recalling the ache of being away from her newborn son. More

    Know the Facts

    • Having a baby is a leading cause of "poverty spells" in the U.S. -- when income dips below what's needed for basic living expenses.
    • In the U.S., 49% of mothers cobble together paid leave following childbirth by using sick days, vacation days, disability leave, and maternity leave.
    • 51% of new mothers lack any paid leave -- so some take unpaid leave, some quit, some even lose their jobs.
    • The U.S is one of only 4 countries that doesn't offer paid leave to new mothers -- the others are Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Lesotho.
    • Paid family leave has been shown to reduce infant mortality by as much as 20% (and the U.S. ranks a low 37th of all countries in infant mortality).

    What You Can Do

    MomsBlogging on Maternity & Paternity Leave

    Straight Talk about Motherhood and Work

    Posted August 23rd, 2010 by Linda Tarr-Whelan

    Recently I was asked a terrific question by an Australian (and soon to be an American) woman at a training for women bloggers thinking about running for office. BlogHer and the White House Project had put together a great program. I talked about my experience in international work as an Ambassador which gave me a [...]

    Massachusetts Maternity Leave Ruling Leaves Moms Cold

    Posted August 18th, 2010 by Amie Newman

    According to Salon’s Broadsheet, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled last week that the state’s maternity leave act (MMLA) should stand, leaving mothers who work for a company with less than fifty employees with only two months of unpaid leave after the birth of a baby. The other moms? They’re either left with a sum total [...]

    What Should Society Do For Parents?

    Posted August 9th, 2010 by Valerie Young

    From Your (Wo)manInWashington blogĀ  MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org Let’s face facts: raising children costs money, and lots of it. Parenthood has economic consequences, and they extend far beyond the family home. If women decide having children is too perilous an undertaking, and fewer children are born, our nation will suffer. Public policy, or [...]

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