maternity leave

so i'm followng up on the state of maternity leave, especially here in the us where i am though i plan to throw in some comparisons with other countries

first thing to catch my attention from my google search was this http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p70-113.pdf

how about that? a whole paper on the very topic i'm researching! and credible too since its from the census bureau :)

haven't read the whole thing yet but did just find this nugget

" The Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) mandates
up to 12 weeks of unpaid
leave for childbearing or family
care over a 12-month period for
eligible employees. Studies so far
have found little evidence that
such laws have increased the
amount of leave women take by
any considerable amount. 14"

wonder what the studies would show if the act mandated paid leave?

and i just found another paper i have to read entitled "Women in the Workplace: Which Women, Which Agenda?" written by Michael Selmi and Naomi Cahn

it appears to adress the fact that much of the policies, proposals and actual legislation serves the interests of professional women who can afford the income trade offs generally inherent in maternity leave policies

i pulled it up as a pdf and can't figure out how to link to it directly buts its the 5th link here http://www.google.com/ie?q=Wen-Jui+Hen+and+Jane+Waldfogel+Parental+Leave%3A+The+Impact+of+Recent+Legislation+on+parent%27s+leave+taking&hl=en&btnG=Search

i'll have to come back to this later tonite though....