The unequal impact of parental leave

It is well established that people who give birth take more and longer caregiving leave than their partners, primarily due to childbirth and childcare reasons. Herr, J., Roy, R., & Klerman, J. A. (2020). "Gender Differences in Needing and Taking Leave," produced for the U.S. Department of Labor, Chief Evaluation Office. Rockville, MD: Abt Associates Inc. It does not help the situation that many employers, including law firms, offer longer paid maternity leave than paternity or parental leave, if they offer paternity or parental leave at all. Olsen, E. (2021). "Law Firms Botch Parental Leave for Men, Families, Survey Says," Bloomberg Law. The result is that people who give birth are taking longer leaves than their partners, which in most cases adversely impacts their careers. The longer a person is on leave, the less likely they are to be promoted, move into management, or receive pay raises upon return. They are also at more risk of being fired and are seen as less committed to their job. "Do Longer Maternity Leaves Hurt Women's Careers, Harvard Business Review," Hideg, I., Krstic, A., Trau, R., & Zarina, R. (2018).

These adverse impacts occur even with a supportive employer who provides generous paid leave. If a person becomes pregnant, they must leave work frequently throughout the pregnancy for doctor visits and testing. Once they give birth, they must spend a minimum of six weeks to recover. Once they return to work, they might have to take multiple daily breaks to express breastmilk. All of these tasks are disruptive to work, regardless of the level of support the person has from their employer, and they are also responsibilities that cannot be delegated. Accordingly, people who give birth must often choose between their desired time home with their child and feeding goals, and taking a hit with their career. The fact remains there is not a comparable career hit for their partners. Even if a partner is fully engaged in childcare responsibilities, they cannot attend a prenatal checkup or express breastmilk in their partner's stead, and thus they retain the ability to continue their career trajectories with few setbacks.

Some argue that having a child is a choice, but it is a choice that both partners make, with the adverse employment consequences overwhelmingly impacting the person who carries the child. Some further argue that breastfeeding is a choice, although there are proven health benefits to breast milk, including lower risk of asthma, obesity, Type 1 diabetes, and sudden infant death syndrome. "Breastfeeding Benefits Both Baby and Mom, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.," Centers for Disease Control, (2021). Moreover, as seen in 2022 with the formula shortage crisis, access to formula is not guaranteed, and not all babies tolerate it.

I am grateful to have an extremely supportive employer who provided several weeks of fully paid leave, accommodated my pumping schedule, gave me a dedicated pumping space, and promoted me to management within a year of my return from leave. And yet, both of my pregnancies impacted my career in ways that did not impact my husband. There were numerous professional development opportunities I could not partake in due to appointments or pumping needs. I missed hours of work due to unexpected and serious pregnancy complications. My employer never penalized me, but my professional development trajectory and career goals were impeded. My months of leave also lowered my Social Security earnings history, as my state benefits did not count, so that if I had become disabled within a year after taking that leave, my monthly disability payments would have been lower for the rest of life. My husband did not face any of these career consequences when he also chose to have children.

Unfortunately, the United States is the only developed country that does not guarantee any amount of paid parental leave. Kolmar, C. (2023). "Average Paid Maternity Leave in the US," (2023): US Maternity Leave Statistics. Zippia.com. The legal field could do better by guaranteeing paid parental leave for both partners in equal amounts and by taking steps to ensure people are not penalized by taking leaves in the more obvious ways, such as failing to promote and increased likelihood of termination. However, the legal field must also factor in the less obvious ways that people who give birth are adversely impacted, including the necessary and non-delegable hours away from their job and missed professional development opportunities that impede their career stability and growth. Only when we have a more robust, inclusive conversation about these disparities can we come up with some true solutions.

Meghan Pluimer is the managing attorney for Homeless Action Center.