O maternity leave, how I have a love hate relationship with you. In full disclosure I had the best baby (I know everyone says that but I'll tell you why). My son slept 18-20 hours a day for the first two months of his life and during month 3 it was about 16 hours. As I sat home, in the middle of winter with daytime television while my son slept the day away I was overcome with feelings of boredom and loneliness. I looked forward to going back to work, as I put it "using my brain" and having that social interaction again. I felt sorry for my husband who I looked to as my only source of daily companionship and whose life I felt I was living vicariously through. However that all changed around week 10 when my little guy showed his personality. My days started to fill with playtime and giggles, I wasn't ready to go back to work like I had been a few week prior. Just as I felt like I was able to bond with my child I was forced to go back to work or risk loosing my job. This doesn't seem fair to myself or my child.
The United States is one of only 4 countries that does not mandate some form of paid paternal leave.
The federal standard for maternity leave is 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave under the family and medical leave act (http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/). How is any two income household supposed to prepare for 3 months without pay on top of all the expenses and medical bills associated with a new baby. For this fact many parents are left heading back to work before both themselves and their child is ready. Something needs to be done about this.
This is a petition to change the 12 weeks of unpaid leave to 12 weeks of PAID leave.
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