Running head: Economic Position related to maternity leave
Mothers’ economic position impacted by policies related to maternity leave
Kathryn Kotecki
Dr. Strassberg
SOC 1100
April 28, 2013
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Maternity leave and economic impact
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Mothers’ economic position impacted by policies related to maternity leave
To what extent do Policies related to maternity leave impact mothers’ economic position
in Poland and in the United States? In terms of “policies related to maternity leave” and
“economic position” I’m referring to policies related to women in the workforce that decide to
take a temporarily leave of absence to give birth and to raise their children. Maternity leave
refers to the period of time that a new mother takes off from work following the birth of her baby
(American Pregnancy Association, 2013). How long is a maternity leave? Once they have taken
maternity leave are the women assured their jobs once they decide to return from leave? Are
these women able to maternity leave with pay? If so, how long will they be able to take a paid
leave and how much are they being paid on leave? Do they have to return once they are no
longer receiving a paid leave or can they still take time to raise their children without using sick
or vacation days? This research question as well as the several other questions above are
important to research and to clarify for women. The maternity leave policies are crucial to
understand so that women are able to estimate their economic position once they return from
leave if they choose to do so. Some women are currently facing economic insecurity when
deciding to have a family during their career. If they decide to have children and a family, they
must deal with the two different groups, family and laborer, conflicting with one another.
Furthermore, women may receive consequence from their occupation if they decide that family
is more important to them. For instance, in Karen Sternheimer’s Everyday Sociology Reader
Arlie Russell Hochschild discusses her findings after doing several interviews of women
working at a major corporation. One such finding was that of a mother’s commitment to her
family clashed with the absentee rules.
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The kids have been sick all winter. Todd has the chicken pox now. Two weeks
ago, Teddy got pneumonia and they put him in the hospital. We called up my
supervisor and asked for some time off so I could stay with Teddy. But he said no.
I took three sick days and then some vacation days, and they put a note in my file.
But I can’t take my kids to my mom or my mother-in-law every time they get
sick. They both work, too. And besides, when Teddy is sick, he wants me, not
anyone else (2010, p 250).
Though this woman had not just given birth to a child, she still faced with job insecurity. She
later went on in the book to describe that when employees’ miss so many days they receive
letters in their employee portfolios which may lead to termination. Furthermore, we can assume
from this woman’s description of being a working mother within the company what the
company’s attendance policy related to maternity leave may be. These women struggle deciding
what is more important, keeping their job or being with their family. Furthermore, implying
women face job insecurity.
Globally, countries have various policies regarding maternity leave. Some policies are
more beneficial to a mother while others are not. According to a survey on the website Catalyst:
The United States is one of the few industrialized nations that do not provide paid
family leave for new parents. Some parents can take time off under the Family
and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which guarantees eligible employees at
companies with more than 50 employees 12 weeks of unpaid, job-guaranteed
leave for the birth of a child or care of a newborn, adoption of a child, to care for
an immediate family member with a serious health condition, or to take medical
leave for a serious health condition. Similar statutes exist in Washington D.C. and
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some states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey,
Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. California became
the first state to enact a paid family leave act in 2002, allowing employees to take
6 weeks leave up to 55% of their weekly wages (with a benefit cap) to care for a
newborn, newly adopted child, or sick family member, and every employee who
contributes to the State Disability Insurance is covered, not just those in
companies with 50 employees or more. Although some individual companies
offer a paid maternity leave benefit, many parents end up using a combination of
short-term disability, sick leave, vacation, personal days, and unpaid family leave
(Catalyst, 2013).
28.5% of mothers in the United States received paid maternity leave. 18.4% received other paid
leave use for maternity such as sick leave, disability and vacation. 25.9% of women did not
receive any paid maternity leave, 14.3% quit their job after giving birth, 2.0% of women were let
go and 1.8% did not stop working at all. According to the same website, a survey showed that in
the United States in 2011 16.0% of women were offered paid maternity leave beyond what’s
covered by short-term disability which is a decrease from 17.0% in 2010.
To get a better look at the United States maternity leave policies the website also looks at
other countries policies in comparison. Australia’s Paid parental leave (government funded)
began January 1, 2011 and gives mothers up to 18 weeks paid at the national minimum wage. In
China, the minimum length of maternity leave was increased in May 2012 to 98 days. On
January 1st 2007, Germany replaced a much less generous system called Erziehungsgeld with
their new maternity leave system called Elterngeld. Elterngeld offers a 67% replacement rate of
previous labor earnings (from employment or self-employment) for either father or mother up to
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12 months postpartum. If both parents participate they are able to receive an extra 2 months. The
resulting total leave of 14 months can be freely distributed between the two parents. Single
parents can receive a total of 14 months alone. The transfer is truncated at a maximum of 1800
Euros per month, and a flat rate minimum of 300 Euros per month is paid to every parent who
has no previous earnings. In Russia, the maternity leave is mandatory and women receive 140
days, 70 of which are to be taken prior to birth, with 70 taken after birth, with up to 100% of
salary at a ceiling. In the UK, women receive 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26
weeks of Additional Maternity Leave. The combined 52 weeks is known as Statutory Maternity
Leave. A recent amendment makes it mandatory for women to take a minimum of two weeks’
maternity leave immediately after childbirth (four weeks’ minimum for factory workers).
Pregnant employees are also eligible for a Sure Start Maternity Grant which is a one-time, taxfree payment that is offered to low-income mothers to purchase supplies for the baby and does
not have to be paid back.
Poland lies in the very center of Europe. It is twice the size of the state New York
containing approximately 39 million people. Much like the United States, Poland is a democracy,
a republic, and a member of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and a member of
EU (the European Union). Its people vote in general elections for a President, and
Representatives to the Sejm and Senate, which are equivalent to the two Houses of the US
Congress. According to nationencyclopedia.com
It is estimated that over 96% of Poles are nominally Roman Catholics. However,
a 2001 poll indicates that only 58% of the entire population are active
practitioners of their chosen faith. About 509,500 people are registered members
of the Orthodox Church, 123,000 are Greek Catholics, 122,757 are Jehovah's
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Witnesses, and 87,300 are Lutherans (Augsburg). Other established Christian
denominations include Old Catholic Mariavits, Polish-Catholics, Pentecostals,
Seventh-Day Adventists, Baptists, Methodists, the Church of Christ, Reformed
Lutherans, and the New Apostolic Church. The Muslim Religious Union has
about 5,123 members. About 5,043 people are Hare Krishnas (2013).
According to OECD.org, 56.4% of households in Poland are two parent families. 12.6 % of
households are sole single parent. Of these households, 87.9% of which are sole single mother
while 12.1% are sole single father. Poland’s divorce rate is 1.2 divorces per 1000 residents which
is relatively low compared to other European countries. Also, 59% of people aged 15 to 64 in
Poland have a paid job. Approximately 66% of men are in paid work, compared with 53% of
women. People in Poland work 1939 hours a year and approximately 7% of employees work
long hours.
The maternity leave in Poland (before and after birth) is twenty-four weeks with 100% of
wages paid. 14 of these weeks are obligatory. Up to two weeks can be used before the
anticipated date of birth and four weeks are referred to as additional maternity leave. In the case
of infant death there is eight weeks. In Poland, there are rights against unfair dismissal as well as
social welfare rights (avoidance of night work; business trips; right of transfer [of position and
compensation if lower pay entitlement]; right to medical visits; paid maternity leave; extended
work breaks after the birth). According to Warsaw Business Journal “They say that, according
to data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), three quarters of women aged 25-34 do not
work because they are tending to a household and raising a child. The sociologists say
respondents are not returning to work because they fear getting fired, demoted, or being unable
to juggle domestic and professional responsibilities” (2010).
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The United States is located in North America, bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean
and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Along the northern border is Canada and along the
southern border is Mexico. The United States contains 50 states as well as the District of
Columbia. The United States is the world’s third largest country in size and in population. It is
more than twice the size of the European Union. In 2012, the United States population was
313,847,465 people. The type of government in the United States is Federal Constitutional
Republic. 78.4% of adults in America are Christian while 51.3% are Protestant and 23.9% are
Catholic. 51.7% of households in the United States are couple families while 9.2% are sole
family household. Of these, 77.5% of households were sole single mother and 22.5% were sole
father households. There are 3.4 divorces per 1,000 population according to statisticbrain.com
(2012). According to bls.gov in the United States there were 75,555 men who are ages 16 and
over in the year 2012 obtaining a job while there were 73,402 men ages 20 and over obtaining a
job. There were also 66,914 women in 2012 who were ages 16 and older who obtained a job as
well as 64,640 women ages 20 years and older who obtained a job. According to the American
Pregnancy Association
Maternity leave is usually created from a variety of benefits that include sick
leave, vacation, holiday time, personal days, short-term disability and unpaid
family leave time. It is important to plan your maternity leave so that you and
your family do not experience any unexpected financial challenges and you can
make the most of your time with your baby (2013).
The website goes on further to explain
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a law that requires most
companies to allow their employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid family leave time
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after the birth of their child. The FMLA applies to both men and women and is
also available for those that adopt a child. If the parents work for the same
company, the 12 weeks is then divided between the two of them and is an
accumulation of both of their time(i.e.,. each could take 6 weeks off; one could
take 4 weeks while the other takes 8 weeks). There are exceptions to the FMLA
which release a business from the obligation of allowing unpaid time off. These
exceptions include thesize of the company (less than 50 employees), the time of
employment (at least 12 months), and level of wages (top 10%). Employees’
within comes that account for the top 10% of wages for the business may not have
access to the unpaid benefit if the company can show with evidence that your
absence creates significant financial harm to the organization. Some states have
family leave acts that are broader than the federal mandate (American Pregnancy
Association, 2013).
A 2008 report from the Families and Work Institute indicated that 16% of
companies with at least 100 employees provide full pay during maternity leave.
This is down from 27% in 1998. Even for those who get some compensation
during maternity leave, the norm for most women tends to be a patchwork of
unused sick or vacation days. And since the majority of women can't afford not to
work for a full three months, they also tend to return to work sooner than the law
dictates. Perhaps that's why in May 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that
55% of first-time mothers were working six months after giving birth. In the early
1970s, only 25% were working 6 months after childbirth (Forbes.com, 2013).
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In Karen Sternheimer’s book Everyday Sociology reader, Janis Inniss also discusses in
her section about social institutions taking care of America’s babies. She elaborates her statement
by stating that starting the late 1990’s, between 60% and 80% of women who worked during
pregnancy returned to work three to twelve months after having their first babies leaving their
babies to be taken care of by sitters or centers. Inniss further explains that the United States and
Australia are the only two industrialized countries globally that do not give their employees paid
maternity leave. However, she expresses how Australia receives 52 weeks of unpaid maternity
leave to all working women. This is compared to the United States that leaves only eligible
women twelve weeks. The Family and Medical Leave Act passed in 1993 allows American
workers job security when they must attend to family and medical care needs. Once workers
have met all of the FMLA criteria, employers cannot deny their employees the FMLA leave as
well as they are unable to use such leave for reason of termination. However, the FMLA does not
apply to all American workers. The FMLA does not apply to employers of fewer than 50
employees. Therefore, leaving many employees who work in smaller companies to return to
work when their children are just a few weeks old because few sick and vacation days available.
Working mothers can be classified into two different groups: mothers and laborers. These
women face identity conflict much like groups discussed in Daniel Chirot’s Contentious
Identities (2011). The women must decide what is more valuable to them: raising their babies
while struggling to support their own family because of issues at work related to their maternity
leave or going back to work to support their family but not being able to help raise their family.
Either situation is stressful and has a negative effect whether it be economical or emotional.
I think the best way to understand how women’s economic position are impacted by
maternity leave through further research. Such research may be more surveys and statistics that
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can be found and are more recent. Also, it research can be done to find the opinion of whether
women should be receiving paid maternity leave and if so, how much and for how long? That is
going to be the best way in understand what is going to be beneficial for mothers and for the
companies that employ working mothers. Once research is done, polices can be crafted better to
help improve maternity leave for mothers and for employers.
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Works Cited
American Pregnancy Association. 2013. http://americanpregnancy.org/planningandprepar
BLS.gov. 2012. www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat09.htming/maternityleave.html
Brown, Heidi. 2009. http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/04/maternity-leave-laws-forbes-womanwellbeing-pregnancy.html
Catalyst. 2013. http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/family-leave-us-canada-and-global
Chirot. Daniel. 2011. Contentious Identities. Routlage. New York and London.
Encyclopedia of the Nations. 2013. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/PolandRELIGIONS.html
Forbes.2009. http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/04/maternity-leave-laws-forbes-womanwellbeing-pregnancy.html
OEDC Family Database. 2010. http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/41919509.pdf
Statistic Brain. 2012. http://www.statisticbrain.com/u-s-divorce-rate-statistics/
Sternheimer, Karen. 2010. Everyday Sociology Reader. W.W. Norton and Company. New York
and London.
Urban-Klaehn, Jagoda. 2013. http://culture.polishsite.us/articles/art138fr.htm
Warsaw Business Journal. 2010. http://www.wbj.pl/
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