1. MATERNITY LEAVE IN AMERICA By Amy Taylor

2. Maternity Leave Did you know that according to a Harvard University study of 168 developed countries, 163 have some sort of paid maternity leave program. The United States IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!! The only other highly developed country that does not have a paid maternity leave program in place is Australia, however, Australians DO enjoy a 12-month job Guarantee! Basically, if you get pregnant within the U.S., there is no guarantee that you’ll have a job that will help you take care of the awesome responsibility of providing for your children. This countries government has shot down several proposals at introducing some sort of paid maternity leave for working mothers. We need to do something about this! We need to help working mothers to be able to take care of their children.

3. Importance Studies show that the first year of a child’s life are BY FAR the most important. A mother, being able to financially afford staying home for that first year, would lay a solid foundation for the child to build upon in the coming years. Mothers have the unenviable task of handing their 6-week old newborns over to strangers for their care and nurturing, while they go and work a 9-5 job to help support their families. Two new studies from University of California-Berkeley researchers found that pre-birth maternity leave and longer post-birth maternity leave are associated with better health for both infants and women, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. One study found that women who started their leave in the last month of pregnancy were less likely to have cesarean deliveries, while another found that new mothers were more likely to establish breastfeeding the longer they delayed their return to work.

4. Comparison Now lets compare the United States with some other countries…. The U.S. offers 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. Bosnia, Chile, India, Malawi, Mexico and Morocco all offer FULLY paid maternity leave. With Bosnia being the highest offering a FULL 52 weeks of Fully Paid Maternity Leave. According to Forbes. Swedish mothers hit the jackpot with 480 days off at 80% of their salary, followed by their counterparts in Serbia and Denmark with a full year off at full pay. Even in Gambia, Somalia and Vietnam new mothers receive at least three months' paid maternity leave. Clearly American mothers are not getting the best deal here.

5. What Can You Do? So what can we do? Sign the Fair Pay Campaign Pledge! 1. I support fair pay for women. 2. I will urge my Senators to support the Paycheck Fairness Act. 3. I will forward the Fair Pay Campaign Pledge to five friends. Contact Your Senators In January 2009, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. This victory is a major step forward in giving women the ability to challenge unequal pay. Please urge your Senators to support the Paycheck Fairness Act.

6. What Can You Do? Receive Updates from the Fair Pay Campaign Sign up to receive updates from the Fair Pay Campaign. We will keep supporters of Fair Pay Campaign updated about resources, conference calls and events that relate to the campaign. Sign Up to Blog on Equal Pay Day - April 28, 2009 On April 28, 2009, voices will rise up across the web in support of fair pay for women. Schedule In-District Meetings with Senators' Offices Want to take your involvement a step further? If you represent a state or national organization, consider setting up meetings at your Senators' district offices to discuss the importance of passing the Paycheck Fairness Act. For more information about how to set up a meeting, visit http://www.aauw.org

7. Conclusion In terms of maternity leave America is way behind the times. There are many benefits to woman staying home longer with their children. You can help.

8. QUESTIONS??