US Navy Triples Paid Maternity Leave For Women

Women in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. can now be allowed to take 18 weeks of paid leave within one year of the birth of a child.

Effective immediately, women in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. can now take 18 weeks of paid leave within one year of the birth of a child. The new leave policy combines 6 weeks of paid maternity leave with 12 weeks of paid convalescent leave and will apply retroactively to any woman in the Navy or Marines who had a baby since Jan. 1, 2015. The change is significant because it triples the amount of paid leave that female sailors and Marines were allowed to take previously.

According to CNN Money, the paid maternity leave increase in the U.S. Navy and Marines is due to the desire of retain talented women who also want to have a family.

“Meaningful maternity leave when it matters most is one of the best ways that we can support the women who serve our country,” explained Navy Secretary, Ray Mabus. “This flexibility is an investment in our people and our services, and a safeguard against losing skilled service members.”

Men in the Navy are still only entitled to 10 days of paid paternity leave for the birth of a child. That time is codified in statute and would need Congressional approval for any changes.

There would be benefits to allowing men to have more paid time off as well. According to the New York Times, social scientists who study families and work say men “who take an early hands-on role in their children’s lives, are likely to be more involved for years to come and that their children will be healthier. Even their wives could benefit, as women whose husbands take paternity leave have increased career earnings and have a decreased chance of depression in the nine months after childbirth.”

Even though an increased paid leave is a great advancement for women, we still have a long way to go. According to the United States Department of Labor, women make up nearly half of our nation’s workforce, but on average they’re paid only 78 cents for every dollar a man earns. The pay gap is even wider for women of color.

The United States is one of only three countries in the world that does not offer paid maternity leave. The other two countries are Papua New Guinea and Suriname. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation without a paid maternity leave requirement. 

 

Image by Rob Bixby via Flickr and a CC license