Maternity leave is one of the controversial issues in the United States. Maternity leave is a statutory prerogative allowing eligible employees to take time off for the birth of a child. Under normal circumstances, maternity leave should be available in respect of all births, whether live or still, after 24 weeks of pregnancy. However, different states are yet to amend this statutory provision due to a number of reasons. Some states do not recognize maternity leave. Maternity leave rights were first introduced, in Germany, in 1883, alongside health insurance and paid sick leave. It was the constituent of a new social insurance system designed to bind workers to the state ( Kamerman & Moss, 2011) . At that time, maternity leave used to cover 4 to 12 weeks. In 1919, the International Labour Office implemented the first Maternity Protection Convention ( Kamerman & Moss, 2011) . The convention was ratified by 33 countries ( Kamerman & Moss, 2011) . The convention had a number of specifications. First, it indicated that women should not be permitted to work during the six weeks following her confinement. It also states that woman shall have the right to leave her work if she has a medical certificate stating that her confinement will take place within six weeks. It also states that women shall be paid benefits enough for the full and healthy maintenance of herself and her child ( Kamerman & Moss, 2011) . Lastly, the provision states that the woman shall, in any case, if she is nursing her child, be allowed half an hour twice a day during her working hours to meet the needs of the child. Despite the fact that the maternity leave is intended to foster proper upkeep of the child, there is diversity in the adoption of maternity leave ( Kamerman & Moss, 2011) . Different countries and states differ in terms of the length of leave, payment (whether unpaid or paid, and, if paid, to what extent), and flexibility in use, for example, whether leave can be taken on a part-time basis or full-time basis ( Kamerman & Moss, 2011) . They also differ on whether the leave is an entitlement for the family. The paper intends to argue that maternity leave is an important form of social welfare that should be adopted by all states and that mothers should be entitled to benefits during the leave.
The first justification for the universal adoption of maternity leave is that it fosters breastfeeding. A study conducted by Baker and Milligan (2008) reveals how maternity leave can foster breastfeeding. Baker and Milligan (2008) found out that there are many benefits attributed to breastfeeding. These benefits, according to Baker and Milligan (2008), range from higher insight for children to lessened dangers of cancer disease for mothers. They further show how some countries are not only adopting maternal leave but also increasing the length of the maternal leave. For example, in Canada, mothers conceiving an offspring before 31 December 2000 were given a maximum of around 6 months of employment – secured, remunerated maternity leave. For those who gave birth after that date, both benefit entitlement and job protection were extended to about 1 year in most provinces. The impact of extension, according to Baker and Milligan (2008), is profound. First, they found that extending the maternity leave has a significant impact on mothers' time away from work post-birth and the length of time they breastfed. Secondly, they found that extending maternal leave is associated with increment in maternal care/holding. This may affect children’s subjective, behavioral, and social advancement. Nevertheless, Baker and Milligan (2008) assert that any helpful impact in these measurements must be contrasted with the costs. This leaves the responsibility on the managers and citizens ( Baird, 2003) .
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The second justification for the universal adoption of maternity leave is that it is one way of addressing sex discrimination. According to United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), state parties should have a comprehensive range of actions that should be taken to enable workers to reconcile work and family responsibilities. One of these actions entails prohibition of pregnancy-based discrimination in preparing for work, entering into work, participating in work, and advancing to work. Another action entails the provision of paid maternity leave, for a period not less than 14 weeks. The other action is promotion, development, or provision of child and family care. ILO further stresses the fact that family responsibilities shall not constitute a valid reason for termination of employment. Consequently, it is undisputable that universal adoption of maternity leave can be one way of fostering fairness and addressing sex-related discrimination.
The third justification why there should be universal adoption of maternity leave is that it is associated with many economic and social benefits. A study conducted by Baird (2003), reveals that the paid leave does not lead to any economic loss to the business. They added that paid leave often acts like unemployment insurance and that the program is funded fully by employee contributions with no direct costs to employers ( Baird, 2003) . The study further reveals that the paid family leave has no significant effect on productivity, profitability, turnover, and morale. They also found that employees who used PFL also were more likely to be contented with the length of their leave, and better able to care for a new child. These researchers concluded that many organizations would profit by offering more specialists paid family leave as it advances maintenance and helps laborers be more productive at work. Most families would benefit many organizations would benefit, and the economy general would benefit. This is on the grounds that making utilization of American ability requires approaches that permit laborers to better adjust to their family lives.
Fourth, universal adoption of maternity leave increases employee satisfaction and retention. First, it is important to note that more than 36% of the U.S. workforce constitutes the millennial generation (Goudreau, 2013). It is also estimated that by 2020, almost 60% of the workforce would be made of the millennial generation (Goudreau, 2013). One thing to note about this new generation is that it is educated and culturally diverse of any generation before them, they are also notorious job-hoppers who dislike bureaucracy and distrust traditional hierarchies (Goudreau, 2013). According to the study conducted by Forbes, one of the ways of motivating this generation is that they want employers who offer the flexibility or rather alternative work arrangement. Millennial generation likes flexibility and giving them maternity leave is one way of attracting and retaining them.
The paper has evaluated the significance of having maternity leave. The analysis reveals that universal adoption of maternity leave is associated with many benefits. First, it fosters mothers and child health. Second, it is one way of addressing sex-related discrimination. Third, maternity leave is associated with many economic and social benefits. Despite these, there is a need for more research. Any helpful impact in these measurements must be contrasted with the costs these leaves force on managers and citizens
References
Baird, M. (2003). Paid maternity leave: The good, the bad, the ugly. Australian Bulletin of Labour, ABI/INFORM Collection, 29 (1), 97
Baker, M. and Milligan, K. (2008). Maternal employment, breastfeeding, and health: Evidence from maternity leave mandates. Journal of Health Economics, 27 , 871–887
Goudreau, J. (2013). 7 Surprising Ways to Motivate Millennial Workers. Forbes . Retrieved from <http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2013/03/07/7-surprising-ways-to- motivate-millennial-workers/>
Kamerman, S. B., & Moss, P. (2011). The politics of parental leave policies: Children, parenting, gender and the labor market . Bristol: Policy.
