Politics
The US should have paid maternity leave – Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama. PHOTO/File
U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States should join the rest of the industrialized world and offer paid leave for mothers of newborns.
“Many women can’t even get a paid day off to give birth – now that’s a pretty low bar,” Obama said at the White House Summit on Working Families. “That, we should be able to take care of.”
The American president is talking about paid maternity leave in the midst of an election campaign season focused in many respects on women voters, raising questions about how he would fund such a system. “If France can figure this out, we can figure this out,” Obama said.
French women get 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, rising to 26 for the third child.
The White House Summit on Working Families he hosted has been months in the making, with several regional events leading up to it featuring administration officials.
While some companies offer paid family leave to attract workers, the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act only requires that employers provide unpaid leave for medical and family reasons.
Obama praised the states of California, Rhode Island and New Jersey for creating a state benefit, but he has not endorsed legislation that would create a similar national system funded by a payroll tax, and he pledged in his 2008 presidential campaign not to raise taxes on families making under US$250,000 a year.
When Obama was elected president, he instituted 6 weeks of paid leave for his workers when they have a child, get sick or injured or need to care for an ailing family member, using his authority to set his staff’s compensation under the personnel code. He does not have the power to award paid leave to other federal workers without congressional action since they are covered under a different section of law. The White House has supported the goal of legislation introduced by lawmakers to change that, but it has yet to get through Congress.
“There is only one developed country in the world that does not offer paid maternity leave, and that is us,” Obama said. “And that is not the list you want to be on. It is time to change that.”
Obama also encouraged employers to have more flexible work schedules and directed federal agencies to expand flexible work arrangements where possible. He also urged Congress to pass legislation requiring employers to accommodate pregnant employees so they can continue to perform their jobs.
Obama personalized the issues by talking about the struggles of his single mother and the challenges that he and his wife, Michelle, had when their children were young, even though they were fortunate to have benefits many workers don’t enjoy.
Mrs. Obama closed the summit by encouraging young women not to short-change themselves in career negotiations. And she said she hopes to see a woman in the country’s top job as president soon.
Source: Associated Press