More Than Half of First-Time Mothers Took Paid Maternity Leave, Census Bureau Reports

Some 51 percent of working women who had their first birth between 2006 and 2008 received paid leave, which included maternity leave, sick leave, and vacation time, up from 42 percent between 1996 and 2000, and 37 percent in the 1986-1990 period, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said in a report released Nov. 10.

“Employers may offer paid maternity leave as a job benefit when they weigh the costs of finding and training a new employee against a short leave of absence,” the report said.

The report, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961-2008, found the amount ...