Here you’ll find the final version of my Researched Essay. While we could’ve written about language and literacy, I opted to choose another topic I felt strongly about, which is mandating paid parental leave in America. I found it very surprising that the US has not even a few weeks of paid maternity leave, as it is one of the richest and most developed countries in the world. It’s especially odd considering how much labor unions and workers’ rights have developed in the last century. Aside from that, I utilized rhetorical strategies to enhance my argument and to demonstrate what I learned in class. I’ll admit it’s usage is not the best, but it’s definitely something that I’ll work on from here on out.

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Should paid maternity leave be mandated for the whole nation of the United States? 

In the past, women were primarily tasked with taking care of domestic affairs, including raising children, while their husbands worked and provided for their families. While this division of roles still dominates a majority of the world, women are becoming more involved in the workforce and pursuing higher level careers. However, with both parents working, the task of raising children becomes much more difficult. Parents often leave their children at daycare, but some cannot afford this luxury. Alternatively, at some point in their career, many women decide to start a family, as most people do. Unfortunately, a large majority of these women end up resigning or even getting fired from their jobs as their productivity levels falter in the beginning stages of their child’s life. They are mentally, physically, and emotionally drained, yet still expected to work efficiently, as well as be a good mother for their infant. As a result, many women are pressured to leave their careers. The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, and yet it is still behind in this matter; in fact, in a list with over forty countries, the US ranks last for the number of mandated paid maternity leave, with a grand total of zero weeks. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows up to twelve weeks of unpaid family leave, but states are free to decide how much weeks employers are allowed to give, with very particular specifications as to who is eligible, and even if they are eligible most mothers are unable to take this leave as they live paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford to do so. This essay will divulge the benefits of paid parental leave, explore paid parental leave policies in other countries, and give insight into the US’s hesitance to mandate this policy. 

Women make up about half the workforce in the United States, and about a third of those women are mothers. Childbirth is a very taxing process that largely affects the body and mind. If a new mother doesn’t recover safely, it can be very detrimental both physically and psychologically. Furthermore, postpartum depression can occur and usually occurs six weeks after birth, a time where most mothers are already back at work because they simply can’t afford to stay at home. Implementing a paid maternity leave policy would significantly reduce the stress placed on working mothers, having a positive effect on both the mother’s wellbeing and the productivity levels for the country. In the Ted Talk video “The American Case for Paid Maternity Leave” posted in 2015, social entrepreneur Jessica Shortall recounts her experiences as a working mother, as well as experiences of other women who have shared their stories with her in hopes of raising awareness. She initially talks about expectations of working women and debunks those expectations with reality. Typically, when searching up a particular concept or idea in any search engine, stock photos appear, which can then be used in many different kinds of projects. These stock photos usually use stereotypes or “expectations”, as they are meant to be generic and used by a lot of people. In the beginning of the video, Shortall shares the results she got when searching up photos of “working women”, as seen in the first photo. She then goes on to say that she thought these photos were highly unrealistic, and shared stock photos she took which display the actual reality of being a working mother, which you can see in the second photo. She does this to present the idea that the original stock photos presented a false narrative, and inaccurately depicted the reality of being a working woman. She even goes on to suggest that they hid the actual struggles of working mothers and perpetuated stereotypes about them, which amplifies feelings that working women don’t have such bad struggles and should be able to keep up with their work. With these images, Shortall intends to inform speakers about the reality of being a working mother and of the idea that the struggles of working mothers are being undermined. While she initially uses humor to lighten the mood and establish credibility as a working mom, she eventually uses a more somber tone to portray the severity of the situation. 

 

 

The second half of the talk consists of the experiences of other new moms in the workforce. While the stories Shortall shares vary in degree of “severity”, one experience she shares is preluded with a heads up that “I have never met this woman but find this story hard to get through”. She shares the following story: “I feel tremendous grief and rage that I lost an essential, irreplaceable and formative time with my son. Labor and delivery left me feeling absolutely broken. For months, all I remember is the screaming: colic, they said. On the inside, I was drowning. Every morning, I asked myself how much longer I could do it. I was allowed to bring my baby to work. I closed my office door while I rocked and shushed and begged him to stop screaming so I wouldn’t get in trouble. I hid behind that office door every damn day and cried while he screamed. I cried in the bathroom while I washed out the pump equipment. Every day, I cried all the way to work and all the way home again. I promised my boss that the work I didn’t get done during the day, I’d make up at night from home. I thought, there’s just something wrong with me that I can’t swing this.” Similar stories follow, one talking about the frequent panic attacks a new mother would get after returning to work, and another where a mother was forced (indirectly) to return five weeks after giving birth (as well as having a major surgery) with third degree tears. With these stories, Shortall uses pathos to get the audience to feel sorrow, sympathy, and even anger at the struggles these women had to endure. The somber tone sparks concern and makes the audience question the nature of the American workforce and the country itself. While this talk is meant to appeal to the listener emotionally, it also raises concerns in a more professional light. How are these workers expected to be productive when faced with these harsh conditions? While these are experiences of only a few women, it’s safe to say that these experiences extend to a large majority of working mothers in America. The physical and psychological effects of childbirth, as well as heavy expectations from society and the workplace only cause stress and irreplaceable damage to these women. In a country that emphasizes hard work and productivity, how can the nation subject half of its workforce to this trauma when it has clearly been proven that paid leave is a success in other countries? 

Another reason to implement paid maternity leave is that it will help raise healthy-minded, productive workers; the children of working mothers. Raising a child is a serious matter; they require a lot of attention and support from parents, which includes financial, emotional, and mental support. The period of time after birth especially is very crucial, as it is during the early stages of life where babies have important emotional development. Mothers also need to spend as much time as possible with their baby in order to nourish them (breastfeeding) and detect any potential health problems, as many infants die the first year of their life due to neglect. Additionally, there are a lot of vaccines and checkups required for infants, especially during that first year, so they can be as healthy as possible and so that certain diseases and conditions can be prevented. In a research article written by Tara O’Neill Hayes, researcher and former Director of Human Welfare Policy at the American Action Forum (a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on American policy challenges), she explains the impact of paid parental leave on children, and backs up her claims with factual evidence. She states that “In 2016, there were 4.2 million hospitalizations among infants across the United States. In the year following the implementation of California’s paid leave policy, total hospitalizations among infants decreased 6 percent. Avoidable infant hospitalizations across all categories decreased by 8.1 percent for children whose parents were covered by the PFL policy…” Hayes includes these statistics to inform the reader of the proven results of implementing paid leave policies, as well as establish credibility by inserting the findings of her research. Because mothers are financially able to take time off, they are able to recognize when their babies are ill and need medical attention. Furthermore, they can immunize their child as well as go in for all necessary checkups to ensure their health. As explained in Hayes’ article, by doing this early on, they can avoid any potential hospital visits that are needed if the child happened to fall ill from something that could’ve easily been prevented, which also reduces hospital bills in the long run (good for both the mother and the employers if they provide health insurance).  Giving mothers paid time off also reduces their stress, which decreases the likelihood of child abuse as a result of that stress. The mother might start to resent the child and blame them for work related issues (Hayes). While employers aren’t responsible for the wellbeing of their employees’ children, putting in the effort to avoid this would benefit the nation in the long term. 

Paid maternity leave can also boost labor force participation and employment. Labor force participation is an important indicator for the state of the labor market, and is a measure of people above the age of sixteen who are employed or actively looking for work. As mentioned earlier, a lot of women tend to give up their careers and/or stop looking for work during the year after the birth of their child. This lowers the labor force participation rate over time, which can have negative effects on the labor market and economy. Labor correlates with the production of goods and services; less labor means that fewer people contribute to the production of goods and services in the country, which slows down the growth of GDP. In The Journal of Economic Perspectives, an article written by economics professor Chinhui Juhn and economist Simon Potter goes over the changes in labor force participation in the United States and provides statistical data to give the reader a visual representation of those changes. Their article mainly focuses on women the late 20th century, as they were a big contributor to the increase in labor force participation at the time. The table below shows the participation of women throughout the years based on marital status, children, race, and education, and emphasizes the effect women had on the workforce. 

 

 

Paid parental leave can also help decrease the social gap between workers of different races. When looking at demographics, there is a clear divide between white workers and people of color. Women of color tend to be less well off than their white counterparts, and as a result are less likely to be able to afford to take unpaid maternity leave. Studies from CBPP (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) show that white women make up the majority of women who return to work after having a child. In comparison, women of color are more likely to leave the workforce after having a child. Historically, people of color, especially women, have been at a disadvantage when it comes to socioeconomic mobility; it is much harder for them to move up the social ladder due to discrimination, racism, and inequality. Implementing paid maternity leave policies would help level the playing field and give women of color an opportunity to move up in their careers, shrinking the gap between races.  

Finally, implementing this policy would be beneficial to employers/companies because it makes potential employees more interested in them. In today’s age, younger workers are more educated and are starting to stand up for themselves in the work force. They do not plan to put in more work than what’s expected of them because they know their rights and realize that companies don’t necessarily care for them. Furthermore, they realize that the American dream isn’t as attainable as people once thought it was, and choose to prioritize their wellbeing instead of bending over backwards for a company that sees them as expendable tools. Labor unions are much more developed and active than they were decades ago, which means that workplaces can’t exploit their workers as much as they did back then. Companies that treat their workers fairly and tackle problems like the wage gap, discrimination in the workplace, and other important issues are highly sought after. Implementing paid parental leave policies would put them on the market and increase employee interest, benefiting the company as a whole. 

Given these reasons, you would think the US would implement this rule, especially since other countries have done so successfully. However, there are several reasons as to why the US is behind in this endeavor. For one, America was built on the idea of the “American Dream”, the idea that you could gain success if you worked hard enough, regardless of wealth, family status, ethnic origin etc. Individualism is one of the key ideals in American history and stems from the idea that individuals are responsible for their own wellbeing; after all, if they wanted the government to intervene as little as possible in their affairs, it was only expected that they refused whatever aid the government wanted to give. Some Americans still hold this ideology today and believe that the government shouldn’t be giving out “handouts”; if they worked hard to get where they were today, those struggling should do the same. In today’s era, it’s clear that the American Dream isn’t actually as attainable as people thought it was, but the fact that people still believe it to be the case still holds the country back from implementing any paid parental leave policies. Another major reason as to why a lot of Americans are against this is because of financial concerns. The money to pay for this policy has to come from somewhere, and in America it most definitely comes from taxes. Implementing paid maternity leaves means that taxes would increase. Seeing how opposed Americans are to taxes in general, it’s no surprise a lot of them are against the idea of using their hard-earned money as “handouts” for others.  

While the cost of paid maternity leave is a very valid concern in the United States, this doesn’t mean paid leave is out of the question overall. All countries have had their struggles with implementing this policy. Take New Zealand, for instance. In the excerpt “From Unpaid Maternity Leave to Paid Parental Leave in New Zealand: Changing Approaches in Legislation” from the book “Labour History”, authors Katherine Ravenswood and Ann-Marie Kennedy summarize the history of movements and bills leading up to the paid parental leave act in New Zealand, as well as analyze the reasons behind the decisions made, from the first act that advocated for equality in the workplace in 1980 to the 2002 act that mandated paid parental leave. The events leading up to the acts passed are crucial to understanding the decisions to pass the acts. For instance, the major reason as to why paid parental leave was pushed back for so long was because the government simply could not afford it; the costs outweighed the benefits it would bring. However, once the demand for workers increased, parliament was finally able to accept making paid parental leave mandatory. As the book summarized, “it seems clear that the women’s movement, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, was the major impetus for the introduction and development of maternity leave and parental leave, which ultimately led to paid parental leave.” (Ravenswood and Kennedy, 210).  

Overall, there is no real reason for not trying to implement a national paid maternity leave policy. Doing so will greatly increase productivity and will most likely make up for the cost in the long term, not to mention that the wellbeing of working parents and their children will definitely increase. Several states have already introduced paid leave policies and seem to be successful. Furthermore, while a lot of countries have this mandated policy, they have also had their struggles in mandating it. Seeing how successful their labor forces have been after this also adds to the fact (especially the richer countries). Given how much labor unions have grown and developed, it is inevitable that there will be social movements dedicated to this idea, so it is in the best interest of the government to implement this policy as soon as possible. 

Works Cited

1. Juhn, Chinhui, and Simon Potter. “Changes in Labor Force Participation in the United States.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 20, no. 3, 2006, pp. 27–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30033665. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022. 
2. Ravenswood, Katherine, and Ann-Marie Kennedy. “From Unpaid Maternity Leave to Paid Parental Leave in New Zealand: Changing Approaches in Legislation.” Labour History, no. 102, 2012, pp. 197–214. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.5263/labourhistory.102.0197. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022. 
3. Hayes, Tara O’Neill, et al. “How Children Benefit from Paid Family Leave Policies.” AAF, American Action Forum, 9 June 2020, https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/how-children-benefit-from-paid-family-leave-policies/. 
4. Oyster Team. “Guide to Maternity Leave in Countries around the World: Oyster®.” Oysterhr, 24 May 2022, https://www.oysterhr.com/library/guide-to-maternity-leave-in-countries-around-the-world. 
5. Abrams, Zara. “The Urgent Necessity for Paid Parental Leave.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, 1 Apr. 2022, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/04/feature-parental-leave#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPaid%20parental%20leave%20can%20reduce,of%20Violence%20Prevention%20at%20the. 
6. Romig, Kathleen and Kathleen Bryant. “A National Paid Leave Program Would Help Workers, Families; Should Prioritize Workers of Color and Those With Low Wages”, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 27 Apr. 2021, https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/a-national-paid-leave-program-would-help-workers-families 
7. Shortall, Jessica. “The American Case for Paid Maternity Leave”  TEDxTalks, YouTube, 4 Nov. 2015,  

     

*Photos 1 and 2 are from reference 7, and the table is from reference 1