I am reading Elizabeth Warren’s new book, Persist. She tells a story about getting fired from her first teaching job because she was pregnant. This was in 1970.
Having just had my first kid, I couldn’t help but start to think about my own experience in 2021 (50 years later).
I had 6 weeks paid leave, and my wife took 20 weeks with most of her pay.
First I am grateful. Our employers have these amazing policies that gives us time to adjust to this big family event, allow us collect our earnings, and return to our jobs. I am also happy about the progress we’ve made when you compare Warren’s experience with my family.
With a lot of employers offering strong family leave packages and government policy changes, more Americans should continue to have positive family leave experiences. Americans favor this.
Everyone should have a chance to start a family and hold their job to manage the transition.
You can listen to a good interview with Warren here.