It may surprise some to find out that the United States offers maternity leave benefits on the same scale as countries like Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.  But, if you are a working woman who has actually tried to take maternity leave, you know that it is no surprise.  We have some really messed up values in the U.S. regarding families - the message is, go out and have a family, but don’t miss any work, and if you are breastfeeding or you simply would like to bond with your baby, that’s just too bad.  You’ll have to bond after work, even though the child is probably asleep since they are only about six weeks old when you have to go back to work.  And, I guess companies have to make a spot for a woman to pump---I’d actually love to see the facilities.  Every graduate-level educated woman that I know has stopped working after giving birth, and it’s no shocker why this happens.  If these women were in Sweden, British Columbia or Australia, they might have over a year of paid leave time.  The Associated Press brings us a timely article on this issue, and offers some reasons why the U.S. is lagging far behind other developed countries when it comes to our maternity leave policies. 

I could go on for hours, but the AP has done a nice job of summarizing this issue, and backing it up with facts.  Apparently, we have our own feminist movement to blame in part, because moms were never really offered special treatment in the efforts, as they were in Europe. 

In this country, we send young women a false message:  when they are young, they are told they can have it all, so they should study hard, go to college, get a good job, etc.  No one ever advises them to consider having children in their career choices, because we supposedly live in the age when business and family can blend.  If we truly value family life and the professional contributions made by women who become moms, then a lot has to change in our policies.