Helena’s situation is all too common in the United States, where parental leave, child care, and flexible work schedules have been left largely to employers and employees to work out on an individual basis. As we describe in more detail throughout this book, there are some federal laws to protect employees and lots of state laws too, but mostly employers still call the shots. And in a struggling economy many employers have cut back on what limited benefits they do provide to employees, making the situation that much worse for expecting and new parents.
On top of all this, bias against pregnant women and new mothers is still a serious problem in the United States, despite the fact that Congress outlawed discrimination based on pregnancy about thirty-five years ago. Apparently, many employers haven’t gotten the memo. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the federal agency that enforces the law) saw a steady increase in charges of pregnancy discrimination over the decade between 2000 and 2010: complaints jumped by 50 percent. And according to a recent MSNBC poll of over 7,000 people, more than 62 percent have personally seen or experienced workplace discrimination against pregnant women.1 By that measure, pregnancy discrimination is the norm, not the exception, in today’s workplaces. Given that women make up half of the workforce, and 80 percent of American women will become pregnant at some point in their lives, there’s a high likelihood that you, your partner, or a friend may encounter pregnancy discrimination on the job. How’s that for a sobering thought?
As you prepare for parenthood, you may find yourself focused on picking a name for your baby or planning your baby shower. But we urge you to save some time, amid all the excitement, to learn how the law protects you as an expecting or new parent and how to fend for yourself where it does not. We’ve organized the information in this book chronologically to follow the path from pregnancy to parenthood and have tried to highlight key issues and deadlines for you to focus on along the way. We’ve incorporated stories from real people, whom we met through our legal clinic and advocacy, to bring these issues to life. We have changed all names and some identifying details to protect their privacy and confidentiality. Their experiences also may help prepare you for potential scenarios that may arise and equip you with the tools you need to respond.
As lawyers, we also have to remind you that the information, ideas, and suggestions in this book are not intended to render legal advice. Before following any suggestions contained in this book, you should consult an attorney. Neither we (the authors) nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising as a consequence of your use or application of any information or suggestions in this book.
We hope the pages that follow will inform and empower you to be an advocate for yourself in the workplace. And in addition to providing this resource, we hope we may inspire you to help improve policies in the United States for working families like yours.
Let’s start with a story of two families, one in the United States and one in Sweden:
Jenna is from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and she is seven and a half months pregnant. She works as the assistant to the director of human resources at a midsize law firm. Her husband is the manager of a local grocery store. They own a modest home and make ends meet but still feel like they live paycheck to paycheck.
Jenna is covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and can take up to twelve weeks of unpaid family leave in a year. Unfortunately, because her husband’s employer has fewer than fifty employees, he is not covered under the act and is not eligible for any family leave. He will have to use his own vacation leave as needed to bond with his new child. Jenna wishes to maximize the time she is able to spend with her baby at home, so she has decided to save as much of her family leave time as she can for after the child’s birth. Her frequent prenatal appointments are covered by the FMLA, however, and count toward her total leave time, reducing by nearly two weeks the bonding time she’ll have with her baby. And even though Jenna battles fatigue and sickness throughout her pregnancy, she drags herself to work because she doesn’t want to use up any more of her time off before the baby arrives.
After Jenna has her baby, she begins taking the rest of her twelve weeks of unpaid leave to bond with her baby. In the back of her mind, she worries about the fact that she is not earning any income during this time; she worries that she didn’t save up enough money in case an emergency should arise. When her newborn is only ten weeks old, Jenna must return to full-time work. She is lucky enough to have a nearby mother-in-law to care for the child while she is at work all day. Otherwise, she would have to find a way to afford day care until her child reaches school age. Even though the child is still a newborn, and the family is comfortably considered middle class, Jenna worries that she will never be able to save up enough money to provide her child with the right opportunities or higher education. She looks for a part-time side job that she can do at home in addition to her full-time job in order to set aside money for the child’s future.
• • •
Lynn is also seven and a half months pregnant and is from Stockholm, Sweden. She is a waitress at a fine-dining restaurant. Her husband is a real estate agent. They live in a two-bedroom apartment that they rent in the city. They have a secure middle-class lifestyle with relatively little financial insecurity.
Lynn is covered by the Family Benefits laws of Sweden. This means that she and her husband are collectively entitled to take up to 480 days of paid leave per child at 80 percent of their salaries. They can take time off of work for long continuous periods and for single days or parts of days, and they may use their days at any time until the child reaches eight years old or completes his or her first year in school. Because Lynn is less than sixty days away from her due date, she is eligible to use her benefits. She uses her leave time when she is feeling too ill to attend work or when she must attend doctor appointments.
After Lynn has her baby, she and her husband decide to stay home together for the first three months to bond with the baby. After the initial three months, Lynn’s husband goes back to work, and Lynn stays at home with the baby for an additional three months. Lynn works out a flexible part-time schedule with her restaurant so that she can go to work while her husband is at home with the baby. She is able to take time off when she needs to while still maintaining a comfortable salary. Further, the Swedish government issues Lynn and her husband a parental allowance to assist in caring for their child. Until the child reaches the age of sixteen, Lynn and her husband get a nontaxable monthly stipend of 1050 Swedish kronor per child, or the equivalent of approximately $155.
Shocked? Jealous? Ready to pack your bags and move to Sweden? The contrast is pretty surprising. As one woman wrote to us:
Unfortunately this country does not realize bringing a new life is also bringing a new citizen, who, if all goes well from the beginning, will be a good student and eventually a productive worker. Why is the beginning of a new life so difficult to cherish?
So how did we get here? Why is US policy so lacking when it comes to supporting pregnancy and parenting?
Picture a scene of a model American family from the 1950s. Dad heads to work every morning with a tip of his hat, leaving Mom at home to care for the children and the household. Dad’s employer is probably some big company that offers him a healthy salary generous enough to support a whole family without additional income. Dad’s company also probably offers him a wide array of benefits, including health insurance for his wife and kids. Mom does all the hard and mostly invisible domestic work, allowing Dad to stay at the office or factory as long as necessary each day and allowing his employer to rely on him for forty years or so of uninterrupted work. Dad works hard too, but he doesn’t have to worry about who will stay home to meet the refrigerator repairman or who will check in on his aging mother or care for his small children. And when he comes home from work, the aroma of a home-cooked meal greets him at the door.
Flash forward to 2014 and you see a very different picture. Today’s family may have a mom and dad or one single parent or two parents of the same sex. But no matter what the configuration, parents in today’s family are probably all employed and earning