For many mothers, guilt begins when maternity leave ends
In Belarus, mothers are paid their salary for 70 days before birth and for 56 afterwards; the US has no statutory entitlement to paid leave
London — Many new mothers worldwide express anxiety and guilt about leaving their babies to return to work, and some worry their nation’s maternity policies reflect societies that value productivity over raising children. In a series of interviews for Reuters ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, mothers from the US to Uruguay to SA to Singapore told of their concerns about stopping work to give birth and look after their newborns. An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report in 2016 found that among OECD countries, mothers are, on average, entitled to 18 weeks of paid maternity leave around childbirth. But the range is vast. While some countries — such as Britain and Russia — offer many months or even several years of maternity leave, the US is the only country to offer no statutory entitlement to paid leave on a national basis. Blanca Eschbach, a new mother in San Antonio, Texas, returned to work after taking 10 weeks off to have her baby. “I thi...
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