The Need for a National Maternity Policy in the USA

Abstract

In the age of working mothers, the human resources base of society cannot go unprotected. An established labour market trend indicates the prompt return of female workers to their jobs following the birth of their babies. That fact appears to be not so widely recognised by policy makers and seems to be deliberately ignored by the business community. American society, legislatively speaking, is still operating on the basis of an old norm — that of women dropping out of the labour force to give birth to children and to raise a family. This perception is not valid and should no longer be held. “Working mothers” represent a universal pattern in the industrial countries of the world. This is evidenced by the high labour force participation rate (80 per cent) of young women of child‐bearing age (25–39 years). There is a worldwide general consensus on the effective need to protect working mothers against enduring multiple penalties in meeting work and family obligations. These sacrifices include loss of income and job, physical and psychological strain and stress as well as infant development risks. The ILO Maternity and Protection resolution of 1919 and its subsequent revisions called for supportive pregnancy and maternity measures. All the industrial and developing countries — except five — have whole‐heartedly adopted and even exceeded the ILO guidelines. The US, to this date, has not ratified the ILO recommendations, and has no national maternity policy despite a high and increasing percentage of young female workers in the labour market. Instead, there is strong opposition to any move in this direction.

Citation

Hosni, D. and Gupta, U. (1987), "The Need for a National Maternity Policy in the USA", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 8 No. 5, pp. 12-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045142