Pregnant people in New York would have 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments under a new proposal by Gov. Kathy Hochul after the state’s legislative session kicked off this week.
The Democrat’s plan to expand the state’s paid family leave policy, which would need to be approved by the state Legislature, aims to expand access to high-quality prenatal care and prevent maternal and infant deaths in New York, an issue that especially affects low-income and minority communities.
The U.S. infant mortality rate, a measure of how many babies die before they reach their first birthday, is worse than other high-income countries, which experts have attributed to poverty, inadequate prenatal care and other possibilities. The U.S. rate rose 3% in 2022 — the largest increase in two decades, according to a 2023 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are a ton of exhausting, painful, and dangerous things requiring medical appointments that aren’t pregnancy. All of them should get paid leave. That’s all I mean 😅
Providing incentives to have children, if the society wants to encourage that goal, is another thing entirely. I hadn’t really considered that!
Actually most conditions that are as debilitating as pregnancy would qualify you for sick leave or (if prolongled) disability. At least where I live. I understand sick leave is another issue in USA but denying care to pregnant women doesn’t really solve anything here. In this case they are pretty much saying that even though pregnancy is not a sickness it shout still get people some limited protection.