Paid Maternity Leave: a Necessity for Iowa’s Economic Health and Family Well-being

Iowa must require paid maternity leave.

Having a child is one of the most difficult things a person can undertake. During the first several months of a child’s existence, at least one parent must provide continual attention and care.

Because of this, many parents, particularly women, may take weeks or months off work to care for their newborns. In Iowa, this entails financial risk. Iowa law requires enterprises with four or more employees to provide up to eight weeks of unpaid maternity leave. This puts many parents in a financial bind since they can lose 50-100 percent of their salary during the time they devote to their child. Iowa should follow the lead of states like Colorado, Delaware, and Massachusetts, which have approved legislation requiring businesses to pay for maternity leave.

Having a child is not inexpensive. According to New York Life Insurance, a parent can spend up to $20,000 on their children’s care during their first year of life. The average annual pay in Iowa is $70,571, which necessitates allocating a sizable portion to only one child each year. This is already difficult for practically everyone who works, but for Iowa parents who take time off without extra income, the costs can be devastating.

Many Iowa parents live paycheck to paycheck or rely on their spouse’s dual income to make ends meet. Unpaid maternity leave can interrupt this, resulting in additional economic hardships. This could lead to some parents working more hours to compensate for lost income, resulting in missed opportunities with their newborn.

There are numerous approaches to introducing paid family leave in Iowa. One example is the New York system, which compels employers to purchase an insurance fund through a private corporation or a state-run fund, thus saving parents from purchasing private insurance.

Paid family leave helps both employers and employees. Adequate time off with economic security can reduce the stress that many new parents experience while also allowing them to be mentally and physically fit for employment.

The health of our newest Iowans is another reason why the state should provide paid family leave. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, kids born in states that have paid family leave are more likely to be healthy due to their parents’ longer care. In these states, the likelihood of infants being re-hospitalized after birth is reduced by more than 50%.

According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, many new parents report feeling sleep-deprived, unhappy, and anxious upon returning to work. This results in a less productive employee and may disturb the office as they struggle with their new work-life balance. Employees, on the other hand, can return to full health if given the time to recover.

Children contribute to the future of our world, yet their first few months require round-the-clock care and monitoring from their parents. Many Iowa parents endure economic difficulty as a result of wage loss and are pushed to return to work early in poor health due to a lack of mandatory paid family leave.

Iowa, like many other states, should mandate paid family leave to assist our state’s more than 1 million parents.