Gender Equitable Leave in the U.S.
In the United States, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave to new mothers and the same amount of time to new fathers, for a total of 24 weeks per two-parent family. During this time the parents' jobs are protected, so that they can return to their job after taking leave. Both fathers and mothers are entitled to the same amount of leave, and that leave is non-transferable. This means that one member of the couple can't give the time to another, so that he (or she) doesn't take any leave and his wife (or husband) takes a double amount. "When leave is transferable, there is a greater likelihood that couples and companies alike will fall back on 1950s gender roles, with mothers expected to take all of the time, and fathers expected to take none," explains study co-author and CCF senior fellow Janet Gornick. "But since most men and women are now equally capable employees, we should allow them to become equally capable parents." Because non-transferable leaves tend to encourage men as well as women to take time off to care for their children, researchers give the U.S. high scores for having equal amounts of nontransferable leaves for both fathers and mothers.
A Glitch
However, due to exemptions for small businesses, 40 percent of American workers have no guaranteed family leave at all, while the 60 percent who are entitled to leave are not guaranteed any of the subsidies or compensation for lost wages provided by most other high-income countries.
In terms of total guaranteed time off from work, the U.S. ranks 20th out of 21 high-income countries - just ahead of Switzerland, which offers only 14 weeks of protected leave. But in Switzerland, such leaves are paid at a rate of 80 percent of mothers' income. This means that fewer workers need to turn down the leave to which they are entitled because they can't afford to have no money coming in. "While the United States does a better job than many countries in allowing both men and women to utilize family leaves, it also forces both men and women to make hard choices between their need to have income coming in and their need to spend time with their newborns," comments family historian and CCF Director of Research Stephanie Coontz.
"Families need both time and money, especially after the birth of a child," says Gornick, who is Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the Graduate Center, the City University of New York "We found that most high-income countries are able to guarantee both to new families. The U.S. is the exception. Australia also fails to subsidize parental leave, but it does give a sizable "baby bonus" at birth and up to a year off for new parents, compared to only 24 weeks per couple here in the United States. Switzerland offers a couple only 14 weeks total leave, but 11 of these are paid." In fact, most paid leaves in other high-income countries are longer than the unpaid leaves available to American workers.
But doesn't it cost too much?
Some U.S. policy-makers fear that subsidized parental leave policies would damage the economy, but CEPR senior economist and study co-author John Schmitt says that international comparisons prove this is not necessarily true. "Done properly, parental leave policies aren't a drag on the economy. For example, of the 19 rich countries with paid parental leave, nine have an unemployment rate as low or lower than the United States." According to internationally comparable data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the most recent unemployment rate in the United States was 5.7 percent, equal to or higher than the corresponding rates in Austria (4.1 percent), Denmark (4.3), Ireland (5.7), Japan (4.1), the Netherlands (4.1), New Zealand (2.8), Norway (3.9), Switzerland (3.5), and the United Kingdom (5.1).
Five Policies that Work
The CEPR report highlights five best practices that are features of the six highest performing parental leave systems in their study.
- Paid leave gives lower-wage parents the financial security necessary to take the leave available to them.
- Non-transferable leave helps counteract social and economic pressures that otherwise encourage fathers to transfer benefits to mothers and perpetuate 1950s gender roles.
- (Nearly) universal leave means restrictions - such as employer
size, industry, geography - are limited
- Collective financing allows risk to be shared across all employers, greatly reducing the burden for individual employers.
- Scheduling flexibility allows families to find an arrangement that fits their needs, and to combine leave with part-time work over several years.
