Heidi Brown writes in Forbes:

To qualify, they must have been employed for at least 12 months at the same firm before the time off and have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours during the same period.

What makes this law so unhelpful for many working women is that companies with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from abiding by it—meaning that these smaller firms are not obligated to grant any time off to care for a newborn (or sick family member).

And, in most cases, they do so less and less.

A 2008 report from the Families and Work Institute indicated that 16% of companies with at least 100 employees provide full pay during maternity leave. This is down from 27% in 1998.

Gotta love a recession!

Not that most women take their government-sponsored leave, anyway.

And since the majority of women can't afford not to work for a full three months, they also tend to return to work sooner than the law dictates. Perhaps that's why in May 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 55% of first-time mothers were working six months after giving birth. In the early 1970s, only 25% were working 6 months after childbirth.

You can guess where the supposed part of the American Family is on this one.

In the U.S., which is second only to Japan among the highest corporate-tax rates in the world, employers balk at the extra expense of paying an employee who's not working. On Feministe, a popular blog for women's issues, "Dan," who described himself and his wife as entrepreneurs, remarked that too often, employers have to ante up for more employee benefits. "It seems like everything in our society is something that the employer is expected to magically provide," he says. "And then we wonder why unemployment is through the roof and the economy is crashing!"

Right. The economy is in free-fall because employers have to give too much unpaid leave to their female employees. Good to know.

U.S. Maternity Leave Benefits Are Still Dismal [Forbes]

Yes, there is a social expectation that women will be the primary caretaker of children, and it's great that the government takes some small steps to allow women to transition more easily back into the workforce and have flexible hours if they want them. But by putting those responsibilities solely on women, the government is basically saying that it is, in fact, a woman's role to be the primary caregiver. That's not actually a great thing for equality.

Duncan Fisher, who heads the British think tank the Fathers Institute, hits the nail on the head with two points: gender stereotypes in child-rearing are reinforced by unequal pay with which women struggle; and "allowing" women to transfer part of their government-mandated leave to their husbands does nothing to give men equal opportunities and continues to reinforce the idea that it is a woman's role.

Furthermore, both Brewer and Fisher pointed out that while it's great for the government to allow people to take leave, both genders struggle with the fact that actually doing so can cause harm to their careers. Brewer notes that many women are being ignored for positions because of the expectation that they will take their full year and ask for flexible hours, while Fisher notes that men are often looked down upon for taking time away from their careers to help rear their children.

It is great for a government to mandate employer-flexibility for parental leave, but it's crappy for both parents and the society as a whole when doing so continues to reinforce the stereotype that child-rearing is "women's work." It's also worse when it's tied up in issues like pay disparities (which the government is also trying to tackle). Parental leave issues are tied to equality both in the workplace and in society as a whole, and caught up in everything from child care costs and availability to the way "flexible" hours are viewed by employers to pay disparities and gender stereotypes. While the government can't mandate that fathers stay home or put an end to stereotypes about the appropriate gender roles in relationships, it could at least try not to reinforce outdated ideas of gender stereotypes like the idea that a stay-at-home dad is something so unusual.

Equality Laws 'Are Now Holding Women Back' [The Times]
Paid Maternity Leave Does Us No Favours Either, Say Fathers [The Times]