{"id":11908,"date":"2018-04-19T03:30:28","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T03:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=11908"},"modified":"2018-04-20T03:34:18","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T03:34:18","slug":"the-us-is-stingier-with-child-care-and-maternity-leave-than-the-rest-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/the-us-is-stingier-with-child-care-and-maternity-leave-than-the-rest-of-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"The US is stingier with child care and maternity leave than the rest of the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joya Misra<\/a>, University of Massachusetts Amherst<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In most American families led by couples, both parents are in the workforce<\/a>. At the same time, nearly 1 in 4<\/a> U.S. children are being raised by single moms. <\/p>\n

Yet child care is generally unaffordable<\/a> and paid leave is not available to most U.S. parents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Around the world, however, most employed women automatically get paid maternity leave. And in most wealthy countries, they also have access to affordable child care. <\/p>\n

These holes in the national safety net are a problem for many reasons, including one I\u2019ve been researching<\/a> with my colleagues for years: Paid parental leave and child care help women stay in the workforce<\/a> and earn higher wages<\/a> over time. This lack of parental leave and child care may explain why the U.S. is no longer a leader<\/a> in women\u2019s workforce participation. <\/p>\n

Maternity leave<\/h2>\n

The U.S. is one of a handful of countries worldwide<\/a> that does not mandate paid maternity leave. The other four are the low-income nations of Lesotho, Liberia, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland. <\/p>\n

Paid leave, which typically lasts at least 14 weeks, needs to be designed thoughtfully. When women can and do take two or even three years off after having a baby, as they may in Hungary, long leaves can limit mothers\u2019 work experience and lead to discrimination<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act<\/a> did mandate 12 weeks of unpaid job protected leave for some American workers. Yet most families can\u2019t forgo the income that moms bring home<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Denmark<\/a> offers what I think is a strong example. There, moms get almost 18 weeks of paid maternity leave and dads get two weeks of paid paternity leave. On top of that, couples get up to a total 32 weeks of parental leave, which parents can split. This policy grants parents both the time and resources necessary to care for children, without \u201cmommy tracking\u201d mothers. <\/p>\n