How women survive in the US without maternity leave
'16.03.2018'
Source: USA Today
While some of America’s largest companies are already offering their employees vacation after childbirth, experts report that leading employees have advantages over others.
PL + US: Paid Leave for the United States, a non-profit organization that advocates for providing US citizens with paid maternity leave, has published a report on the unequal conditions of such opportunities from various large employers in the country, writes USA Today.
Millions of Americans are not offered even a single day off after giving birth or adopting a child, and one in four mothers must return to work 10 days after giving birth. During the past year, some companies, including Starbucks, Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) and Walmart announced the terms of maternity leave. PL + US reports that many of these companies offer such benefits only to top management.
“People who need paid maternity leave most likely won't get it,” the report said.
The greatest differences in the vacations provided are observed in Starbucks - the company provides 12-18 weeks of paid leave for parents working in corporate conditions, but fathers, foster parents who work in stores (baristas) will not pay for the leave. Although Starbucks officials say the company is "close to or even above the industry standard."
Walmart, one of the largest national private employers, does not offer fully paid vacations for 1,2 million hourly workers. Full-time women who give birth may get sick leave for 6-8 weeks with retention of 50% payment. Wage workers will receive 10 weeks with full pay.
The companies with the most equal system of paid maternity leave listed in the study include Ikea, Levi's, Nordstrom, Bank of America, Chase and Apple.
Research compiled by the Washington State University Department of Health shows "a strong link between paid maternity leave and child survival." The infant mortality rate in the United States is high for a developed country - twice that of Sweden. PL + US reports that 10 extra weeks of paid leave can reduce infant mortality by as much as 10%.
Currently, the law gives women the right to 12-week unpaid leave with a job, but many workers do not have sufficient qualifications for this. According to the Department of Labor, only 12% of US non-governmental workers have access to paid maternity leave.
