Federal Maternity Leave

Health
1

Proposal for Mandated Maternal Leave in the U.S.

  1. Objective:

The goal is to provide all mothers with a substantial amount of paid leave before and after childbirth, ensuring their health and well-being while supporting early child development. This proposal seeks to relieve financial and job-related stress for new mothers, enabling them to care for their newborns without sacrificing income or job security.

  1. Duration of Leave:

The proposal would mandate 6 to 12 months of paid leave for all new mothers. This longer time frame aligns the U.S. with many other developed countries and acknowledges the importance of extended recovery time and parental bonding for both mothers and children.

6 months of leave would be guaranteed as fully paid.

Up to 12 months of leave could be provided, with a mix of full and partial pay during the second half of the year, giving flexibility to those who wish to return to work earlier but ensuring the option for extended time off.

  1. Compensation:

Full Pay: The first 6 months of leave would be fully compensated at 100% of the mother’s salary.

Partial Pay: For mothers choosing to take additional time beyond 6 months (up to 12 months), compensation during months 7-12 could be reduced to 50-70% of salary, depending on income levels and company size.

  1. Funding Mechanism:

The extended leave could be funded through a combination of:

Federal funding from general revenues or dedicated payroll taxes.

Employer contributions, potentially subsidized by tax credits for small businesses.

State-level supplements similar to paid family leave programs already implemented in some U.S. states.

  1. Eligibility:

This extended leave would apply universally to all working mothers, regardless of the size of their employer or employment status (full-time, part-time, or freelance). Special provisions would be made to include self-employed, gig, and contract workers to ensure inclusivity across all sectors.

  1. Job Protection:

The policy would ensure that mothers have the right to return to their jobs, or an equivalent role, upon completion of their leave, with protection against termination or penalties during their absence.

  1. Parental Leave Inclusivity:

The policy could be expanded to include shared parental leave, where the 6-12 months of paid leave could be divided between both parents. This would promote equality in caregiving responsibilities and give families flexibility in how they manage parental roles.

  1. Health and Economic Benefits:

Health: Research shows that longer maternity leave correlates with improved physical and mental health for mothers, better child health, and higher breastfeeding rates. Babies benefit from extended bonding time, which can positively influence development.

Economic: Extended leave reduces turnover, improves employee satisfaction and retention, and allows mothers to remain attached to the workforce without compromising early childhood care.

  1. Global Comparisons:

Countries like Sweden, Norway, and Germany offer between 9 and 16 months of paid leave. Implementing this policy would align the U.S. with international standards and promote a more family-friendly work environment.

  1. Challenges and Opposition:

To address concerns from businesses, particularly small businesses, the proposal could:

Offer flexibility in the funding model, such as government subsidies or tax credits.

Implement the policy incrementally, starting with 6 months fully paid leave and scaling up to 12 months.

Allow businesses to hire temporary workers during the leave period without losing tax incentives.

  1. Implementation and Enforcement:

The federal government would oversee the implementation, potentially through agencies like the Department of Labor. Enforcement could be phased in over several years, giving employers time to adjust.

This extended leave policy supports mothers’ well-being, provides vital early development for children, and aligns with global best practices.

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Overall great policy, although even getting the GOP to consider a 12 weeks paid family leave is already a tough road.

I also proposed a leave related policy and in addition suggested that college students be eligible for it, and that certain caregiving workers should get Intermittent Leave.

Of course, I know my ideas are still a long shot. Probably would have to be a Democrat supermajority for it to be considered, but I strongly believe in the idea anyway. Here it is, if you want to take a look: Federal Paid Maternal Leave, Unpaid Intermittent leave & College flexibility

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Love this!!

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At its core, this ultimately feels like even more of a band-aid over the symptom of a larger problem.

Children are ultimately meant to be raised by their parents. When you focus on how many months the mother is paid to not work to stay home with the baby, you’re just delaying the problem of shipping the child off to daycare and school to be raised by someone else in a communal setting while the parent is increasingly absent from the child’s life beyond that initial span where the mother is paid not to work.

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In my proposal I am looking at the consequences of maternal/paternal figures (or lack thereof) on the state of Mental Health.

I believe that we cannot take for granted the importance of these familial bonds, and the interplay of this upon the trajectory of individuals into the world as adults. Whatever we can do to reinforce the foundation for families to prosper in this country as a whole, is essential. Enabling opportunities for proper-nurturing cannot be overlooked, as it has a huge payoff for a peaceful society.

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In Czech Republic the government pays for 2 yrs paid leave. This decreases the financial burden of employers especially small business that couldn’t possibly be able to afford this. The federal government should fund it. It encourages pregnancy helps alleviate the stress out on lower income families that would struggle to pay for child care & work. Babies can keep parents from sleeping properly causing sleep deprivation depression & stress help parents during the first 2yrs. Will also strengthen the family unit.

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I disagree that we need to rely on the government to assist with a private decision to have a child. The families having children should prepare financially, and perhaps change lifestyle to accommodate for one parent to stay home. I understand that there are single parent situations, but for this comment, I have limited it to families choosing to have children.

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I can’t believe this doesn’t have as many votes as some other policy proposals. This should be among the biggest topics of discussion!

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This doesn’t account for career women who should have the right to fully recover physically, as well as emotionally (PPA/PPD for example) to be able to comfortably put their career on pause to care for their vulnerable infant in a crucial stage of life. As this mentions already, so many other developed nations provide this care. It benefits in so many more ways than just financial stability on an individual level… which is also great!!!

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Plus the option to extend the leave at partial pay already incentivizes pre-planning and financial responsibility. I’d love for my taxes to positively impact mothers and children, personally.

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This still overlooks the underlying problem where the ultimate emphasis is on career first, child second.

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We can prepare all we want, Christine, but the fact is that most middle class families can’t afford to live off of one income. Even if you try to prepare to live off of one income you’d be waiting years for a salary increase that will either never come, or will never reach the inflation levels we’ve experienced. Which would then put mom at risk of not being able to conceive because as we all know, it becomes more difficult to conceive the older a woman gets.

I think that if other developed and even developing nations are providing this incentive to their citizens who want to create a family, the American government has no excuse not to do the same thing for their people. It is a healthy ask with many benefits towards baby’s development and mom’s health. Not to mention increased birth rates is something the government actually wants to see happen because it has many benefits/advantages for the economy. Therefore, paid maternity leave for longer than 12 weeks (preferably 6 months to 1 year) is a great incentive towards a stronger economy.

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First 3 months the company you work for can pay. After 3 months is when we can request the government pay for the remainder of maternity leave. We want incentives to create families and this is a valid ask. We are not asking for welfare or food stamps and none of this is permanent. We want to go back to work. But believe it would be humane to have a longer maternity leave.

Spend less on giving random countries our hard earned money and spend more money on incentives for U.S. citizens. Spend less on housing illegal immigrants. Etc etc.

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I don’t disagree with you that it benefits mom and the baby and ultimately the economy. However, as Americans many have chosen to live above their means, making a two income household necessary, which means the burden falls in the company to pay the benefits, or the government- which obtains the money through taxes to provide this benefit.

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While there are people who, as you said, live above their own means, many of us are not and we still have trouble getting by. What you said was a broad assumption. And I’d rather we put our taxes to good use for something like this rather than handing our money over to Ukraine and illegal immigrants. The government should support their own people, not other country’s people.

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I do wonder how many things people have these days that they think of as a “necessity” that they could actually do without.

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Yikes.

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Thank you for the positive feedback!

The one thing I think this administration needs to look into regarding Maternal leave is infant formula companies. Abbott Nutrition and Nestlé, have been involved in lobbying efforts that indirectly or directly oppose paid maternity leave due to its potential to increase breastfeeding rates, which competes with formula sales. Below are specific examples of their influence and activities:

Lobbying Against Breastfeeding-Focused Policies

  1. Influence Over International Policy: Abbott and Nestlé have lobbied aggressively against global breastfeeding initiatives like the World Health Organization’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. This code limits formula marketing that undermines breastfeeding but is not legally binding in the U.S.

    1. U.S. Domestic Advocacy:
      These companies have not openly lobbied against paid maternity leave, but their efforts to block legislation that supports breastfeeding indirectly hinders the case for federal leave. For instance, the lack of adequate leave forces many parents to rely on formula, increasing demand

Political Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures

Formula companies have invested millions in lobbying efforts. Abbott, for example, ramped up its lobbying after the 2022 formula shortage to address regulatory inquiries and maintain its market position

The Infant Nutrition Council of America, representing major formula companies, spends on lobbying to protect industry interests, including limiting regulations that could prioritize breastfeeding

Maternity Leave and Market Impact

Studies show that countries with robust maternity leave policies see higher breastfeeding rates. Formula companies have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo in the U.S., where federal leave policies are limited. Increased breastfeeding rates would likely reduce formula sales, posing a direct threat to their revenue.