Women, Society, Maternal Leave Name
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Women, Society, Maternal Leave
Question 1
Social Policies affect the way that women serve in various government and job positions. Gender disparities in society have created different sets of opportunities for men and women (Piovani & Avsar, 2015). Additionally, these disparities have been promoted by various social policies. These social policies have enabled societies where there is unpaid economic contribution especially in matters relating to reproduction (Piovani & Avsar, 2015). These social policies, especially in relation to the formalities of maternal leave such as length and pay, have defined various economic values that relate to pay as those that consist of formal paid activities while underplaying the role of social reproduction to economic growth. As such, most of the part-time job opportunities are filled with a high proportion of women since they are more flexible to enable them to fulfill other traditionally-defined societal roles.
Question 2
Various benefits can be derived from parental leave. For society, parental leave can help to have a better work-life balance (Cahn, 2019). This will mean better attachment between child and parent which will have a better outcome for children’s upbringing as well as less stressed out individuals. For the women population, particularly, there is a better breastfeeding time which will lead to healthier children. For the employer, there is increased productivity and employee loyalty. The employees will be motivated to work better since they enjoy a better work-life balance. At the family level, there is a better distribution of responsibilities between the father and mother leading to reduced social and economic pressures.
In my opinion, social policies should be designed around two main factors for more efficiency. To begin with, there is a need to have social policies designed to enable a better work and family schedule. This will enable an increase in the sustenance of the family unit while promoting the development of healthier work-life balances. Another aspect is the focus on encouraging equity in the sharing of family responsibilities. A family is a core unit of society and as such, social policies should work to promote the sustenance of the unit. As such, policies that push employees to take parental leave such as a use it or lose it approach will prompt more employees to take full advantage of the parental leave. All-in-all, social policies should have a focus on enabling families to thrive. As such, there is a need for increased public and private sector investment for the development of a comprehensive approach.
References
Cahn, N. (2019). Three Benefits To Paid Parental Leave. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/naomicahn/2019/12/15/three-benefits-to-paid-parental-leave/#433cb55e1c2a
Piovani, C., Avsar, N. A. (2015). The Gender Impact of Social Protection Policies: A Critical Review of the Evidence. Review of Political Economy. 27(3): 1-32