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Maternity leave in USA

Maternity Leave in USA

The legislations pertaining to Maternity leave have been a product of the development of women 's status internationally , from the domesticated subordinate in households during the previous century to the modern working woman post-World War II , whose participation in the labor force is deemed no less than any other

In the United States , approximately 4 million women give birth to infants each year (US Census Bureau . Up to this date , there is an estimated 80 .5 million mothers of all ages (US Census Bureau , and among this

number , about two-thirds is in the labor force (Vezzosi 1 . To add to this , it is said that more than 50 of the American mothers whose children are less than one year of age are members of the labor force (Smith , Downs and O 'Connell 1

The need for paid maternity leaves must not be seen only on the perspective of its benefits . Clearly , the changing view and behaviors of women as members of the workforce , not only because of their need to sustain their family , but also because of their drive to succeed in their careers must be considered . The trends in the women 's lives from the 1960 's clearly indicate that women today are more than ever , faced with the dilemma of keeping a family against pursuing a career

The two factors , age and educational attainment of first time mothers are said to be contributing to the changing views and behaviors of the women as members of the workforce . Teenagers and women who were in their mid twenties comprised the population of first time mothers in the 1960s . The first time mothers at their 30 's increased by 300 from 7 -22 from 1960-1995 (National Center for Health Statistics First time mothers also have higher educational attainment today compared to the previous decades . The percentage of first time mothers who have gone to college have been continuously increasing each decade from 8 in the 1960s to 21 in the 1980s (Day and Curry 20-489 Smith Downs and O 'Connel 2

Women who have attained higher degrees have a higher probability of working during pregnancy . 87 of the women who have had college degrees were working in the mid 90 's . This is significantly higher compared to those who have not attained a high school diploma with 29 working and those who have just graduated high school with 60 (Smith , Downs and O 'Connel 6

Most working women were expected to stop working during pregnancy in the 1960 's . That is , 13 of the pregnant women stopped working immediately 6 months prior to the birth of their child . Women who stopped working declined to 5 in the 1980s . It is only during the start of the 80s when jobs are viewed by women more than as a source of finance but as a career . It was shown that it is college graduates and not less , who are in more need of finance , that stay in their jobs...

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