Freelancette

I used to think that the typical maternity leave in America consisted of about three months of paid leave (that's what I've been counting on, at least). Then I happend to read M.P. Dunleavy's sobering Opinion piece in Business section of this Saturday's New York Times. As Dunleavy explains, the Family and Medical Leave Act (our country's basic blueprint for maternity policy) provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for men and women, provided they've worked "basically full time" for at least twelve months at a mid-sized company. According to Joan Blades, the co-founder of MomsRising.org, 40% of working women don't qualify for leave under the F.M.L.A. Since I've only been at my current job since May, I'd fall into that unqualified group. And since many of my friends work for themselves or for very small companies, they'd be with me.

Sure, those private companies are free to develop their own maternity policies, but they don't seem to be stepping in: the number of U.S. employees who get paid maternity leave of any length has been dropping, from 27% in 1998 to 18% in 2005. The article says that only 7% of employers offered at least six weeks of maternity leave with at least some pay. Interesting, especially when you consider that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that moms breast feed for at least six months!

There's clearly very little financial support for new moms. “A lot of women don’t understand these policies, and they are very surprised by how little protection they offer,” Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, told Dunleavy.

Not just surprised -- shocked! And bummed. I knew the U.S. had much less realistic childcare and maternity policies than other developed countries, but I didn't realize just how family un-friendly our country really was. Thanks to Dunleavy, a journalist and financial columnist for MSN.com, for spelling it out for me. That's just another reason to encourage women to work for change at the polling station, at the office, and in the community.