The US is one of only three countries in the world that reports they don’t offer paid maternity leave and President Obama thinks it’s time they exited that particular club. He said it’s time America joined the rest of the developed works in offering paid parental leave.
During a White House Summit on working families earlier this week to create a “21st Century workplace” in the US, Obama called on Congress to pass legislation to provide paid family leave.
The US is currently the only developed country in the world not to mandate paid leave and Obama is utilising a mid-term election to support policies aimed at helping women in the workforce and families achieve economic stability.
“Many women can’t even get a paid day off to give birth — now that’s a pretty low bar,” Obama said earlier this week. “That, we should be able to take care of.”
He called for parental leave, workplace flexibility and an improvement on U.S workplace policies but didn’t provide details for how he would fund this system.
“If France can figure this out, we can figure this out,” he said.
In his address, Obama emphasized what he believes are the economic benefits of paid family leave time, which equates to a greater support for the global economy.
“In fact, in a new study, nearly half of all parents — women and men — report that they’ve said no to a job, not because they didn’t want it, but because it would be too hard on their families,” he said.
“When that many talented, hard-working people are forced to choose between work and family, something’s wrong. Other countries are making it easier for people to have both. We should too, if we want American businesses to compete and win in the global economy.”