Natalia Naman-Temesgen: Maternity leave for U.S. parents doesn’t add up

I’m currently writing from maternity leave, also known in the United States as an expensive, diaper-filled staycation.

Of course, words can’t express the joy I feel from spending such intimate time with my little brood. But words can outline the ways in which our country lags behind all other industrialized nations in the way we treat new, working parents.

The facts: the U.S. government does not mandate even a day of paid leave for new parents. Sweden pays 80 percent for up to 56 weeks; Canada pays 55 percent for up to 50 weeks; France pays 100 percent for up to 16 weeks; and China pays 100 percent for up to 12 weeks. That’s just a sampling of countries’ paid-leave policies. And as far as dads go, Canadian, Swedish, Croatian, Italian, Slovakian and British papas get a few months of paid leave themselves.

A couple of my girlfriends are new moms — each welcomed a precious baby this summer. I checked in to ask how their leave was coordinated and how they felt about the amount of time they took.

One of my friends had been loyal to her company for years, starting after her college graduation. She intended to take a standard unpaid leave period of six to eight weeks, but ended up leaving the company so she could be home with her daughter. I asked if there were hard feelings when she stepped away from her position. She didn’t think so. In fact, once her daughter gets older she will look into getting back with the company.

She did express the main reason she left was that her employer wasn’t flexible with her needs to be at home. Her daughter had a medical condition at birth that required extra attention and appointments, and not to mention the stress it piled on a new mom. When the company couldn’t accommodate a change in her leave, my friend made the tough decision to stay home.

My other friend is relatively new at her company. She was allowed a standard unpaid leave period and stuck to it. Her son recently started attending a well-regarded child care center and she is back to work. She misses seeing him, but she explains that it was important for her to keep her job. While the thought of longer leave or paid leave would have sent her back to work with a greater sense of loyalty, she accepted the short, unpaid period for what it was.

It appears that if anyone should know about these realities, it should be working women. We can let our voices be heard and share our opinions with our government and our company’s human resources department. That feedback makes a difference to Nestlé, where data on how long parents stayed with the company after parental leave is being collected en masse to help inform how policies should be modified. They’re taking a few strides in the right direction. Nestlé’s most updated leave policy provides primary caregivers with 14 weeks paid leave and the right to extend another six months unpaid. 

Makes those diaper-filled days seem almost luxurious, doesn’t it?

Natalia Naman Temesgen is an independent contractor. Contact her at nntemesgen@gmail.com.

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 11:13 PM with the headline "Natalia Naman-Temesgen: Maternity leave for U.S. parents doesn’t add up."