As part of our ongoing coverage of paid leave, we're rounding up the most important news from the week. Here's what you need to know about paid leave, working parents, and child care in the United States and abroad.
Working mothers can stop feeling guilty. New research from Harvard Business School shows that daughters of working mothers tend to have more successful careers and make more money than those raised by stay-at-home moms.
The financial realities of unpaid maternity leave: For the 40 percent of American women who take unpaid leave after giving birth, maternity leave means taking a huge financial hit. Business Insider talks to one 27-year-old mother about the struggle to pay for formula and diapers without a salary: "Not being paid while taking care of a newborn is just backwards to me. It's almost like a slap in the face from the US."
The secret to having it all is having a lot of money. Work-life balance doesn’t have to be that bad, writes Laura Vanderkam in a Wall Street Journal column about “working mothers who make it all work”—as long as you make more than $100,000 and can afford housekeepers and live-in babysitters.
Yelp for finding a parent-friendly job: Two new start-ups are trying to help job-seekers find out about benefits and the environment for working mothers at potential employers, encouraging employees to post anonymous comments about their workplace.
“I found the company’s treatment equivalent to encouraging miscarriage.” In Japan, discrimination against pregnant workers is so widespread that there's a term for it—matahara, or maternity harassment. A group of Japanese women spoke out this week against the practice, describing being demoted, pressured to resign, and assigned work that's dangerous for a pregnant woman.