Paid parental leave benefits for new parents were expanded in Virginia last June following an executive order signed by Gov. Ralph Northam. This order applies to state employees and provides eight weeks of leave at full pay to both mothers and fathers. As a public institution, this order applies to the University, and this month President Jim Ryan announced plans to expand on this order by offering paid family leave to part-time salaried staff as well. Ryan’s expansion puts the University’s leave policy at around the median offered at the 205 U.S. and Canadian universities surveyed by the University of Colorado, but it is still far more generous than the status quo for most Americans.
Previously, federal law was the only standard for parental leave in Virginia, meaning that state employees were allowed only 12 weeks of unpaid leave. In some cases, workers had to ask for additional unpaid time off or use short-term disability leave. All of these options are unpaid and detrimental to new parents, forcing them to choose between taking care of their child or furthering their career. Northam’s order is a big improvement for workers because now each employee at the University can take time off after the birth or adoption/placement of a child to bond with their new children, without the fear of losing their jobs.
Despite the recent expansion of paid parental leave in Virginia, relatively few workers benefit from these programs nationwide. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics only five percent of the workers in the United States had access to paid family leave in 2017. This unfortunate statistic is understandable because the United States is one of the few countries around the world that does not offer paid leave benefits to its citizens.
The lack of paid family leave in the United States is especially striking because of the inherent benefits of such programs. Ariane Hegewisch, a study director for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, says, “having paid leave makes economic and health sense.” Some long-term benefits of paid leave included fewer depressive symptoms, and a reduction in severe depression. An improvement in overall mental health was found in a study where women took longer than 12 weeks of maternity leave as well. Another study conducted by professors at King’s College London and reviewed by professors at the Harvard School of Public Health found that, “there is a potential for maternity leave benefit programs to have a real long-term effect on the mental health of women and that these effects of maternity leave benefits are not only short-lived … they are likely to extend for many decades.” Additionally, a Rutgers study found that new mothers who took paid family leave were far less likely to depend on public assistance.
It is important to remember that while paid parental leave may be making strides on Grounds, this issue is not being resolved at the national level by our government or by multinational organizations and businesses. It is clear from this information that paid parental leave is an incredibly beneficial program, which makes it all the more unfortunate that is has not been expanded throughout the entire United States.
Underlying factors in American society, such as the value placed on individualism and a belief that if an individual works hard enough then they can be successful, may explain why paid leave has not been expanded in this country. This culture can make it difficult to normalize taking time off work because you’re a new parent that wants to spend time with your children. In order to make progress on this issue, the culture surrounding paid parental leave needs to change and it must be understood as a fundamental need by new mothers and fathers to attend to their children.
Thankfully, the issue is being discussed and advocated for by powerful officials and public figures. Barack Obama discussed paid leave in his 2015 State of the Union Address and now Ivanka Trump, an adviser and daughter to President Donald Trump, is advocating for a paid family leave program in Congress. This heightened attention the issue is receiving means that there is hope for future programs that will address this problem. However, this issue is far from being resolved, and in order for progress to be made, citizens must use their voice and advocate for paid parental leave.
Elizabeth Aramayo is a Viewpoint Writer for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
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