"What makes these stories so horrifying is the thread of almost Dickensian economic coercion running..."

“

What makes these stories so horrifying is the thread of almost Dickensian economic coercion running through them. Sure, some women may be able and eager to get back to a beloved career ASAP after childbirth—like Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who recently announced she’s having twins and plans to take “limited time away and [work] throughout” her pregnancy and delivery. Others who could technically take more time off may feel pressured by the 24/7 workplace culture at so many American employers to return sooner rather than later. But only desperate financial necessity drives someone to do so when they’re still bleeding from major abdominal surgery. Indeed, there’s a clear class divide between mothers who are forced to get back to work early and those who aren’t. In the 2012 survey Lerner cites, 80 percent of college graduates took at least six weeks off, while only 54 percent of those without college degrees did so.

It’s a reality that can be sometimes overshadowed when the conversation around maternity leave focuses on how much worse off all American women are compared to their counterparts in, well, nearly every other country in the world: The impact of our terrible federal family leave mandate does not fall evenly. And as elite employers—like Microsoft, Netflix, and Adobe, to name the latest—are increasingly competing for talent by announcing generous paid family leave policies, the disparity is destined to grow. Netflix’s new much-criticized two-tier parental leave policy—12 months for well-compensated, salaried employees on the digital side but just 12 weeks for the lower-paid, hourly workers shipping DVDs—reflects the reality in the U.S. economy writ large: We may be a nation of paupers when it comes to support for working parents, but there are still haves and have-nots.

”

- My latest at Pacific Standard about how the US’s lack of paid maternity leave worsens inequality.