Voices: Carolyn's Story
In addition to advocating for women's rights, 9to5 collects stories about women's experiences in the workplace-- the good, the bad, and the downright unbelievable-- for our Voices feature. This Voices story comes from Carolyn*, a mother in Illinois.
“I just had my second child. With my first one, my husband and I were in such a financial position that I was able to take the full 12 weeks of leave under FMLA. My company provides 6 weeks paid maternity leave, but the rest is unpaid. Before I had my second child, my husband was laid off and was out of a job for 9 months. He went back to work right before I had the baby. Due to the strain of having lived on one salary for some time, I was only able to take 2 weeks of unpaid leave. Fortunately, I have a very healthy daughter and have not had a lot of problems.
“Even if my husband had not lost his job, unpaid leave for me is a big cut to our family's finances because I am the primary wage earner in the family. It really bothers me that the U.S. has absolutely no laws about mandatory minimum maternity leave. I have done some research on this and it seems that the U.S. is alone in the world in not mandating ANY paid maternity leave for its workers. I hear all these slogans about 'Family Values' yet the groups that use them seem to oppose any piece of legislation that would protect families.
“I now hear pediatricians trying to encourage women to breastfeed their babies (which is a good change), but how can we blame women for their reluctance to try breastfeeding or for giving up on it when many women are back at work only 6 weeks after having given birth? It takes most women 4-6 weeks just to get the hang of breastfeeding and then it's time to go back to work, where the employer may or may not allow the new mom to pump milk. I've been very assertive about my pumping at work (I didn't ask, I just told them), but I know not everyone is this assertive or fortunate enough to get away with it if they are. I'm also lucky enough to live in Illinois where we do have a law on the books that requires employers to provide time and space to pump. I firmly believe that these issues should be addressed at the national level, although I know it's been tried and failed.
“Nonetheless, if the U.S. wants to stay one of the most advanced societies in the world, it's going to have to start showing some respect and appreciation to its mothers.”
*Name has been changed
