Online-only: Lack of paid leave putting families’ health at risk
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* Teddi Dineley Johnson

A lack of paid leave and flexible working conditions that accommodate breastfeeding are jeopardizing the health of millions of U.S. workers and their children, a new report finds. As a result, workers face serious harms to their health, finances and careers, and employers miss out on the productivity gains that such cost-effective measures generate in countries around the globe.

Released in February by Human Rights Watch, the report drew on interviews with parents across the United States to document the health and financial toll of having little or no paid family leave after childbirth or adoption, repercussions resulting from employers’ reluctance to offer breastfeeding support and workplace discrimination against new parents. Parents interviewed for the report said having little or no paid leave contributed to delayed immunizations for their babies, postpartum depression and other health problems, or caused them to give up breastfeeding early. Some interviewees reported taking unpaid leave but having to go into debt to do so, and some were forced to seek public assistance. Many parents confronted inflexible workplaces after returning from leave, including resistance to requests for flexible hours or to pump breast milk at work.

Pointing to employer bias against working mothers, some women interviewed for the report told of career setbacks. Some same-sex parents were often denied even unpaid leave, according to the report, “Failing its Families: Lack of Paid Leave and Work-Family Supports in the U.S.”

“We can’t afford not to guarantee paid family leave under law — especially in these tough economic times,” said Janet Walsh, deputy women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch and the report’s author. “The United States is actually missing out by failing to ensure that all workers have access to paid family leave. Countries that have such programs show productivity gains, reduced turnover costs and health care savings.”

At least 178 countries have national laws that guarantee paid leave for new mothers, and more than 50 countries also guarantee paid leave for new fathers. More than 100 countries offer three months or more of paid leave for new mothers, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Moreover, providing paid leave for new parents has not broken the bank in the countries that offer it, according to the report. In fact, studies of other countries’ programs have found that offering paid leave is good for business because it increases productivity and reduces employee turnover costs.

Closer to home, California and New Jersey are the only two states with public paid family leave insurance programs, the report said. Both are financed exclusively through small employee payroll tax contributions. In a study evaluating California’s program, employers “overwhelmingly reported that the program has had a positive or neutral effect on productivity, profitability, turnover and employee morale,” the report said.

While the federal Family and Medical Leave Act enables workers with new children or family members with serious medical conditions to take unpaid job-protected leave, it covers only about half the work force, the report noted.

“Leaving paid leave to the whim of employers means millions of workers are left out, especially low-income workers who may need it most,” Walsh said. “Unpaid leave is not a realistic option for many workers who cannot afford it or who risk losing their jobs if they take it.”

In addition to a lack of paid family leave laws, the laws in many other areas important to working families are weak, the report said. For example, workers seeking flexible schedules or time off to care for a sick relative have few protections.

“Despite its enthusiasm about ‘family values,’ the United States is decades behind other countries in ensuring the well-being of working families,” Walsh said. “Being an outlier is nothing to be proud of in a case like this. We need contemporary policies for contemporary workers.”

For more information or to download the report, visit [www.hrw.org](http://www.hrw.org).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association