Paid Maternity Leave

Paid maternity leave is a great idea.  Most first world countries are doing it.  The U.S. is not though.  Instead, it mandates unpaid maternity leave, and consequently, at least 40% of Americans don't get any maternity leave, because they cannot afford it.  Among the poor less than 5% can afford it.  This gives them two options.  The first is to have kids, use what little vacation and sick time they get, and then go back to work after around 10 days, compromising the physical, mental, and emotional health of their babies, and seriously risking their own health.  Doctors recommend new mothers to take it easy for 6 weeks.  This is not a vacation.  This is for recovery, because if they don't, they can end up with serious medical complications including death, as well as serious postpartum depression.  Mothers need a break after giving birth, and their babies need them.  When they cannot afford to take this break, it harms them both.  In the U.S. we claim to have a health crisis.  Overall health has been shown to be significantly affected by the health of the mother both before and after giving birth as well as the care the baby gets during the first months of life.  A baby that is not regularly breast fed and close to the mother during this time is far more likely to suffer from serious health problems in the future, including mental health problems.  (What if the cause behind our higher rate of mass shootings than any other first world country is our lack of paid maternal leave?)

I don't want to promote paid maternity leave though.  As a country, we keep getting distracted by trivial things.  We don't need paid maternity leave.  The Republicans are right.  Mandatory paid maternity leave would destroy small businesses, which provide a majority of our jobs.  Currently, there are four states that pay for maternity leave out of the public coffers.  This takes the burden off of small businesses.  It sounds like a good idea.  It is not though.  What happens when a woman who is earning a million dollars a year gives birth?  Now the state is paying some fraction of that salary.  These four states pay between 55% and 67% of the salary for six weeks.  For a woman making a million dollars a year, that is $77,000 total!  The public should not have to pay even a fraction of the salary of someone making that much money.  If a woman is making a million dollars a year, and she is too stupid to live a lifestyle that allows her to save a significant portion of that, there is no reason the public should be required to pay to maintain her lavish lifestyle!  That is downright wrong.  So, it is unethical to make small businesses pay for maternity leave, and it is unethical for the government to pay it.  In theory paid maternity leave is a great idea.  In practice though, it is a terrible idea, as it will either result in economic harm, or it will rip off the middle class (the primary source of tax revenue) to maintain extravagant lifestyles.

The fact is, maternity leave, just like a long list of other things, is a mere distraction from what we really need: Basic income.

A basic income solves the problem of paid maternity leave quite nicely.  Those who are already very well off should have enough money saved to easily handle taking up to 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave (guaranteed by FMLA).  If they do not have the money saved it is their own fault, and they deserve to be accountable for it.  (After all, the Right is big on personal accountability.  If the Right thinks it is wrong to bail out the poor, because they dug their own hole, this is even more true of those who actually have the means.  It turns out that our poor may be more wise about managing their finances than our middle class and rich.  If a middle class or rich family cannot afford unpaid maternity leave, maybe it is time for them to sell that second car and look for a cheaper house, so they can get rid of the expensive mortgages that they clearly cannot afford.  You can complain to me about the poor being bad at finances when that becomes an option for them!)

Anyhow, a basic income would provide easily for a reasonably frugal family, even with unpaid maternity leave.  In fact, it would allow an expecting mother to start the maternity leave sooner, if necessary, to avoid the health risks to her and the baby, if her job poses such risks.  Once the baby is born, the basic income for the family will increase, further reducing the burden.  This means, for middle class families living close to the edge of their incomes, the added basic income from the baby might be enough to offset the loses, avoiding severe cost cutting measures.

The best part of all of this is that a basic income is far superior to paid maternity leave, because it applies even when there is not a new baby.  Most first world countries already have paid maternity leave of 12 weeks or more.  They also already have decent welfare systems.  If the U.S. was the first modern country to have a decent basic income, we could leap past the rest of the world, reaping the benefits of improved economy, improved health, and greater overall happiness.  A basic income is probably the fastest and most effective way for America to become great again.  And it would also ensure that new mothers have the opportunity to have sufficient recovery time and time to care for their new children.  In short, we don't need paid maternity leave.  We need a Universal Basic Income!