The Family Medical and Leave Act Rendered Worthless Especially for the working Class Pregnant Mom
Posted by Advocate Aaron on May 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The Family Medical and Leave Act protects the rights of mothers to take up to 12 weeks off from work for childbirth (see the fact sheet here: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs28.pdf). Despite this, more and more new mothers are returning to the workplace sooner than they wanted to help stabilize family finances, as reported by Dana Mattioli in the Wall Street Journal (http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2009/03/11/new-mothers-cutting-short-maternity-leave/).
The current economic climate has put a strain on American families – especially when a mother is out of work and a father is laid off. Our need to earn has forced women to give up their rights and the precious bonding that only mothers and babies can share.
The FMLA requires that employers with at least 50 employees allow for 12 weeks of unpaid workleave – but allows mothers to waive that right. And that’s exactly what many mothers are doing. The FMLA is now essentially worthless.
If the government really wants the FMLA to do some good, it would require that maternity leave be paid. We’re expected to give 30 years of our lives to the workforce, profiting CEOs exponentially. Can’t they be expected to help cover the bills for a few months out of three decades? Or should the government pick up the tab with all the paper money it is printing?
Perhaps originally intended to help disadvantaged mothers invoke their right to recovery and bond with their newborns, a lack of foresight has now made the FMLA relevant to the advantaged. If families can’t afford maternity leave, then the Family Medical and Leave Act does little for them. It benefits the advantaged, yet leaves the disadvantaged to struggle for survival.
Perhaps the Obama administration should revisit the Family and Medical Leave Act and not only provide time, but also the means to survive while women care for their children.
