In 1969, women made up only one-third of the workforce in the United States, and more than half of all families had a full-time stay-at-home mom. Today, nearly four in ten moms are the primary breadwinner for their families, and even more are a co-breadwinner.2
This modern-day juggling act affects families of every size, shape, and income level. Its consequences are far-reaching. The work–family time crunch leads to poor health outcomes for parents and kids, including higher rates of childhood obesity.3 It drags down wages for working women4 and those providing care and perpetuates the gender imbalance and devaluation of domestic work. These consequences hurt us as a society and impact our economy, yet we have few collective solutions to the problem. Here in the United States, we regard this problem as a private issue to be solved on an individual basis, one family and one employee at a time.
Not all countries in the world view family responsibilities this way. Our story of two moms highlights a particularly extreme contrast between Sweden and the United States, but it’s not just wealthy Nordic countries that go to bat for their families. Worldwide, 178 countries guarantee some leave with pay to women in connection with childbirth.5 Seventy-four countries ensure paid paternity leave or the right to paid parental leave for fathers.6 New mothers in Kazakhstan—a country made famous by Borat—are entitled to more paid maternity leave than mothers in the United States. One hundred twenty-six days of paid leave at 100 percent of their salary, to be exact!7 And our neighbors to the north in Canada can boast too. Mothers there get seventeen weeks of paid maternity leave, and families may split an additional thirty-five weeks of paid parental leave between the parents as they choose. In Quebec, where fathers get five weeks of nontransferable paternity leave at 70 percent of their earnings, over half of eligible fathers take leave.8 In contrast, nearly half of new mothers in the United States do not have access to any form of paid parental leave.9
Around the world, 178 countries guarantee paid leave for new mothers. Three countries do not: Swaziland, Papua New Guinea, and the United States.
Maternity leave is only the beginning. When it comes to valuing and supporting the work of caring for families, the United States lags behind the rest of the world in a variety of ways. Our country is one of only a handful that do not guarantee paid sick time for all workers, including time to care for sick family members. In fact, 163 other countries guarantee a minimum number of paid sick days, with many providing a week or more per year for personal health needs.10 The European Union has sought to eliminate discrimination against part-time workers and improve quality part-time work, but here in the United States part-time workers face discrimination in pay and benefits and are excluded from many labor and employment laws.
Dozens of countries provide universal child care at reduced cost to help parents return to work. In 1971, our Congress passed a bill to establish a national day care system in the United States, but President Nixon vetoed the law. More than forty years later, American families are still struggling to find reliable, affordable child care. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a high-quality, subsidized child care facility in your neighborhood that is open eleven hours a day? Or if you chose to hire a private nanny instead, to have the government pay her social security, health insurance, and retirement benefits? If this sounds good to you, get ready to brush up on your French and move across the Atlantic!
We tell you all of this not to discourage or depress you (although we admit that sometimes these statistics do bring us down). Rather, we want to show you that it is possible for countries to support working families through public policy, and they don’t have to be rich or risk their economic prosperity to do it. In fact, here in the United States a few states have started to fill in the gaps left by our meager national policies. Here’s an example of just how different the picture can look depending on where you live:
Krystal lives in San Francisco, California. Whitney lives in a smaller town in Florida. They don’t know each other, but they have a lot in common. Krystal and Whitney are both thirty-two years old, and both work as hostesses in small restaurants. They love going to the beach and relaxing with their friends. Each woman also just had a baby. Because their restaurants are small, neither woman qualifies for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The similarities stop there. Considering the rights that these women receive in their respective states, they might as well be living on different planets.
Whitney stands all day since hostesses aren’t allowed to sit on stools at her restaurant. At the end of the day, her feet are so swollen that none of her shoes fit, and she stays in her apartment, exhausted. Whitney finds out that her restaurant doesn’t offer maternity leave, and there are no laws to protect her. She gets ten days of paid time off, so she uses all of them after having her baby. Two weeks after giving birth (and after being in labor for twelve hours), she’s back at her hostess station. At two weeks old, her baby is too young for day care, and Whitney doesn’t have any extended family nearby, so she has to pay $15 per hour to hire a babysitter. She doesn’t have time to heal and doesn’t even bother trying to breastfeed because she decides it will be too hard to establish in two weeks and too difficult to continue while she’s working. She spends $1,700 on formula in the first year, money she doesn’t have. Since her hours are unpredictable and her shifts change from week to week, she sometimes can’t find a babysitter in time. She asks for a more stable schedule, but her manager won’t give her one. She realizes she will have to change professions, so she quits her job. She’s incredibly worried about finding a job and having enough money to feed her new baby.
Krystal in California, on the other hand, asks for a stool and is entitled to one by law. One month before giving birth, her doctor puts her on bed rest. Krystal is entitled to disability leave and feels reassured, knowing she can get her job back. She receives state disability insurance payments during this time to pay her bills. She also decides to take six weeks after giving birth under the California Family Rights Act so that she can bond with her new baby. She is paid part of her salary during these six weeks, so while she is away from work for two and a half months, she is never entirely without income. Krystal breastfeeds successfully and pumps once she gets back to work. Her daughter, at six weeks old, is old enough to go to day care, so Krystal saves money on formula and hiring a babysitter. One day her daughter gets a cold, and Krystal stays home to care for her—in San Francisco, many employees get paid sick days to take care of their sick children. Although Krystal is still working hard to save money and support her family, she doesn’t have to worry as much as Whitney does.
We hope that you will keep all of this in mind as we detail the rights you do have under US laws and that you will think about how you might like to see these laws improved, both nationwide and in your home state. If, by the end, you are convinced, we hope you’ll join us to bring a better balance to all Americans.
1. CONGRATULATIONS: You’re Expecting! Now What?
• POP QUIZ •
(You’ve probably taken plenty of pregnancy tests already, but we bet some of these answers will surprise you!)
1. True or false: A woman may be legally fired for carrying a water bottle to stay hydrated when pregnant.
True. A court ruled that an employer may not be required by federal law to accommodate the needs of a healthy pregnant woman (i.e., one without any disabling or complicating condition). This is a true story!
2. You announce your pregnancy to your boss, who says, “As soon as you start showing, you’ll have to go on disability because we can’t have you looking like that in front of our customers.” Is this illegal?
Yes. You cannot be forced out on leave if you are able to do your job. Opinions of customers are not a valid excuse