Maternity Leave Ethics

Introduction
Is it no secret that in the United States, paid maternity leave is severely lacking compared to other developed countries. The US offers zero weeks of guaranteed paid leave for new mothers, whereas other countries offer anywhere from 15 to 50 weeks (Beadle). When I viewed Rosie the Riveter by Howard J. Miller, I questioned the importance of women in the work force, and wondered how an increase in women could increase the amount of money within an industry, and whether or not drawing women into a field of work to earn more money is ethical or unethical. Through research, I discovered that an increase of women did in fact mean more money for an industry, and that raising maternity leave to draw women in is unethical.
In section
There is no mandatory paid leave. Companies are required to provide new mothers with 12 weeks of leave without pay. However, this unpaid leave comes at a cost. The new mother must be employed at a firm with 50 or more employees, must have worked at the same place of employment for 12 months, and must have accumulated at least 1,250 hours of work within those 12 months (Wikipedia). Compared to other developed countries, this is an astoundingly low form of of leave. In China, mothers are given 98 days of paid leave at either their full working salary, or maternity allowance provided by maternity insurance. 15 days of the total 98 may be taken before the birth, with an additional 15 days per child if the woman gives birth to multiples, and an additional 15 days if the birth is especially hard (Zhang). In Australia, mothers are given up to 18 weeks of paid leave, being paid at the national minimum wage. The government supplies money to the employer, who then pays the new mother (Global Legal Monitor). In the Netherlands, mothers are given 16 weeks of paids leave, six before the birth, and ten after. They receive their full salary (Expatica). These are just three examples of how every other first-world country outshines the US as far as paid maternity leave goes. Even countries that offer only a portion of the original working salary offer more than the US. Furthermore,
As said previously, major technological companies are working to draw women into their field (Covert). For example, Google observed a drop of 50% in the total number of women quitting when the implemented a system of paid leave (Truong). Mothers and women with interest to become mothers are more likely to stay in a job when it has better than average benefits for them. Similarly, the company Etsy began offering its corporate employees 26 weeks of flexible paid leave. Eight of these weeks are to be taken immediately after the birth, with the other 18 being taken off and on over a period of two years. Furthermore, Netflix now offers unlimited paid leave for the first year after birth (Lam). These are all exemplary new forms of paid leave in the US, and they are having the desired effects. More and more women are turning towards the technology field for work (Kashen). Companies are constantly competing for employees, and better benefits can be used to draw employees from one company to another. Furthermore, as stated earlier, the more diverse a company’s workforce, the more money they receive from investments. Women make up a large number of the demographic considered to be diverse, especially in predominantly male workforces like technology. The company with the most diverse workforce will get the most money from overall