Tag: Maternity Leave

FMLA at 30: Persisting Toward Paid Leave

This past weekend marked a milestone anniversary for a historic piece of legislation: the Family and Medical Leave Act, or the FMLA. As the FMLA turns 30, we should use this opportunity to celebrate its legacy—and reflect upon how much further our country still has to go when it comes to supporting workers in balancing their personal and professional lives.

Roughly 44 percent of workers are not covered by the FMLA, and even for those who are covered, taking unpaid leave is often unfeasible. I urge you to raise your voice and join the movement to make a comprehensive, paid family and medical leave a reality for every worker in America.

Amidst a Nationwide Formula Shortage, a Reminder: The Decision To Breastfeed Is Personal

As the nationwide formula shortage gained more news coverage, social media outlets like Twitter started buzzing—not with compassion for these scared parents, but rather judgment that these mothers hadn’t breastfed and were therefore at fault for their current predicament.

(Of course, the irony of the formula shortage happening at the same time that the Supreme Court is poised to force American women to carry unwanted pregnancies is also not lost on many.)

Four Reasons Men’s Sports Are Not the Gold Standard

As women’s sports make progress (however slow), it is imperative to examine the crucial problems characteristic of the industry and decide what equality can look like. Is the male model of sports really the standard worth striving for?  What does a healthy sports culture look like and how can we foster that with the evolution of women’s sports?

Here are four reasons why men’s sports are not the gold standard—they’re the relic of a problematic past.

paid leave

Parental Leave: The Time for Change Was Yesterday

After giving birth, new moms are faced with the struggle of balancing the physical needs of their recovering bodies, emotional needs of being a new mother and the financial needs of returning to work. With one in four women returning to work just two weeks after delivery, it is past time for the U.S. to prioritize paid parental leave. Taking care of mothers, who make up 57 percent of our workforce, is the first step towards a safer and healthier tomorrow.

U.S. Backslide on Abortion Rights Is a Grave Danger to Democracy, Say Both Reproductive Rights Experts and Legal Analysts

Saturday, Jan. 22, marked Roe v. Wade’s 49th anniversary—and it very well may be its last. 

On Friday, Jan. 21, experts on democracy and elections from the Brennan Center and Ms. discussed the implications of the Texas abortion law S.B. 8 and the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that directly challenges the precedent of Roe.

Sponsored by Ms. and the Gender and Policy Center at George Mason University’s Schar School, the rousing discussion set the stage for how the U.S. got to this point, and outlined where we go from here.

If Men Had Miscarriages

If Men Had Miscarriages

There are approximately 6 million pregnancies in the U.S. each year, and more than a million of those end in loss. A million. Every year.

Despite this unfortunate prevalence, there is no support infrastructure in place for people going through pregnancy loss. I realized this when I went through it myself.

Our-Sick-System-of-Sick-Leave-Maternity-Leave-and-Family-Leave

Our (Sick) System of Sick Leave, Maternity Leave and Family Leave

There are no federal laws guaranteeing sick leave or maternity leave for employees in the United States.

And on the subject of paid parental leave, once again, the U.S. lags behind the world. Out of 193 countries in the United Nations, only a handful lack a national paid parental leave: New Guinea, Suriname, a few South Pacific island nations—and the United States.

It’s up to women to pose the hard questions and determine wheth­er a candidate supports family-friendly work­places or not.