Is Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty When It Comes to Paid Leave for New Mothers?

The Census Bureau released a new report today that found that 51 percent of working women who gave birth to their first child between 2006 and 2008 received paid leave, compared to 42 percent between 1996 and 2000.

So—is this news to cheer or jeer?

Let’s start with the half-full perspective: the percentage of women who received paid leave did increase, and one reason may be the campaign for paid family leave that has had some victories at the state and local level, most notably in California in 2002.

But the glass is, almost literally, half-empty: 49 percent of new mothers didn’t have access to paid leave. The U.S. remains the only high-income country, and one of only four countries in the world, that does not provide a statutory right to paid maternity leave. (The others are Liberia, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland.)

And the lack of paid leave is really bad news for mothers, their babies, their employers, and the economy. Research reported by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that:

• Paid maternity leave makes it more likely that children are breastfed, which has health benefits for the child and the mother.
• The lack of paid maternity leave decreases the likelihood that newborns receive follow-up care, including immunizations.
• Paid leave allows new mothers to look after their own health needs; a majority of new mothers report one or more physical side effects up to five weeks after childbirth, and longer for those who had a Cesarean section.
• Paid maternity leave is cost-effective for employers, because it reduces turnover and thus the cost of recruitment and training. And it increases commitment and motivation among the broader workforce.
• An economic analysis by the Organization for Economic Growth and Development (OECD) estimates that introducing paid leave at the average OECD level (15 weeks), they could increase productivity by 1.1 percent in the long run.

So—go ahead and cheer this small but measurable improvement. But keep up the fight for paid leave.