The Broken Water Ceiling

Indeed, the debate that Batista is re-igniting in politics still rages with a daily vengeance in workplaces across America. Today, almost two-thirds of first-time mothers work while pregnant—versus less than half in the 1960s. And almost 90 percent stay on the job during the last two months of pregnancy. But especially in the case of low-wage workers, who can’t decide when to take breaks or how to accommodate their job duties, pregnancy can mean discrimination on the job or even worse. In a June 2013 report, the National Women’s Law Center documented story after story of women fired because they were pregnant or overworked to the point of miscarriage. Complaints of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace have risen by 65 percent since the 1990s.