To really support working mothers, companies need to push for social change.
My two best friends are both named Sarah. They are smart, ambitious women. Both are white, college educated, and upper-middle class. They work in challenging, rewarding professional jobs and are married to wonderful men. And they’re both mothers to beautiful little boys. Despite all these similarities, their experiences as new mothers returning to work after giving birth couldn’t have been more different.
, not individual employers, which is one reason why bosses like Sarah’s have little reason to be frustrated when employees have kids: it doesn’t hurt their bottom line. After only a couple months back at work, Sarah learned she was pregnant with her second child. Again, she told her boss when she was 15 weeks along, and, again, he expressed only support. She gave birth to her second son in May 2018 and took another parental leave. Eleven months in, she was headhunted by another firm. She interviewed, got an offer, and accepted the job with a start date of roughly three months later.
Her firm had no legal obligation to give her or any of its employees any parental leave after childbirth. The 1993does require companies to allow workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a personal illness, including pregnancy complications, or to care for an immediate family member, such as a newborn. But — importantly — this doesn’t apply universally.
Soon after, a hospital employee called to offer them a payment plan for the remainder of their bill. Insurance had covered a portion, but the remainder — about US$9,000 — fell to them. The billing agent reassured Sarah it was more than normal for families to pay for their child’s birth in installments.
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