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Agitating for Change
Maternity Leave Is Important to Everyone
By Kelly Burgess
You're not pregnant, yet – you're merely planning to get pregnant in the future. So why should you worry about maternity leave? Just as with everything else, you'll cross that bridge when you come to it, right?
The problem is that when you do have to cross that bridge, you may find it a little shaky, if not completely down. It's possible that your employer doesn't offer maternity leave or won't guarantee that your job will be there when you return. You may also be confronted with such a short time off that you may not feel comfortable going back so soon. What many people don't realize until it's too late is that in America, paid maternity leave is not required, and time off without penalty is not guaranteed to anyone.
While America is often seen as extremely progressive, the fact is that the country lags far behind other developed countries in recognizing the importance of family issues in the workplace. Sweden is often held up as the model for parental leave policies, with its policy of full parental leave until the child is 18 months old at 80 percent of the parent's salary. However, even countries with less expansive policies, such as Mexico (12 weeks, 100 percent paid), Poland (16 weeks for first child and 18 weeks for subsequent children, paid at 100 percent) and Hungary (24 weeks at 70 percent), make America's 12 weeks of unpaid leave look pretty miserly. Now consider that only about 60 percent of American workers are eligible for this leave, which was mandated as part of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
"Small employers don't have to do anything; they make up their own policies regarding maternity leave," says Pat Katepoo, director of Work Options
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