Agitating for Change

Maternity Leave Is Important to Everyone

By Kelly Burgess

, flexibility for parents in the workforce has other benefits for employers. "The health of the economy depends upon an engaged work force, but it's difficult to be engaged if your attention is elsewhere," she says. "Many companies have found that about 3:15 every day their workers were getting distracted, because that was the time their children were arriving home from school and they were worrying about what they were doing and who they were with. Politically, this has been blocked because it's seen as an entitlement, but really it's about having a workforce that can work more efficiently because of increased flexibility."

Solomon also points out that this affects workers without children, as well. Politically, maternity leave is considered family leave, and women and men are equally entitled. What this means for childless people is the ability to care for aging parents or to take time off, without having to go on welfare, if they or their spouse become seriously ill or injured. In addition, this covers families who are adopting children, as well as those who need the more traditional "maternity" leave.

This is undoubtedly a political issue, but it's exacerbated by the fact that most Americans are not politically involved or aware. Many people don't agitate for change or take on causes for a variety of reasons: apathy, complacency or just being busy tending to the business of life. However, it's important that these changes in work structure be made. Solomon says the key is becoming a more flexible society.

"The Sloane Foundation has been studying this issue extensively, and they have some of the best research on the benefits of a world where the unique needs of families are accommodated," she says. "Too much of parenting is still an either/or choice, and we need to find alternatives to those types of decisions."

What you can do is get involved. First, educate yourself by visiting sites that are dedicated to research on work/family issues and activism such as the National Partnership for Women and Families and the

Want to see more?

• Are You Ready to Try to Conceive? Take Our Interactive Quiz and Find Out
• Considering Religion: How Will You Raise Kids?
• Money, Marriage and Medicine: Some Things to Think About Before You Conceive
• Talk about it!