Maternity Leave Laws in the United States in the Light of European Legislation

The Internationalization of Law and Legal Education, edited by Jan Klabbers & Mortimer Sellers, 129-148. Vol. 2 of Comparative Perspective on Law and Justice Series. New York: Springer, 2008

20 Pages Posted: 12 Nov 2013

See all articles by Candace Kovacic-Fleischer

Candace Kovacic-Fleischer

American University, Washington College of Law

Date Written: April 10, 2013

Abstract

This chapter describes the difficulty that the US has had in passing social legislation by viewing it through the changing attitudes of US Supreme Court justices toward employment legislation during five defining eras in the twentieth century: laissez-faire economics and wage and hour legislation, 1905-1941; President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Social Security Act, 1935-1937; World War II, 1940-1948; the Civil Rights and Women’s movements, 1963-1978; and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. The US has expanded its view of government’s role in the private workplace over time, though not nearly as quickly as has Europe. The author shows that this lagging behind may be explained in part by America’s long tradition of opposing government power, particularly Federal power, and, in the case of maternity leave, by unhelpful attitudes toward women in the workplace, both of which have stifled social engineering initiatives in the United States.

Suggested Citation

Kovacic-Fleischer, Candace, Maternity Leave Laws in the United States in the Light of European Legislation (April 10, 2013). The Internationalization of Law and Legal Education, edited by Jan Klabbers & Mortimer Sellers, 129-148. Vol. 2 of Comparative Perspective on Law and Justice Series. New York: Springer, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2248129

Candace Kovacic-Fleischer (Contact Author)

American University, Washington College of Law ( email )

4300 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States

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