Current Status and Challenges of Maternity Protection Policies: Implications for Female Workers and Beyond

Abstract

Life events such as marriage, childbirth, and parenting, which women experience throughout their lives, exert a direct effect on their labor market participation. I examined the past twenty years of amendments to laws concerning maternity protection to identify the causes of women’s career interruptions, their tendency to accept lower-quality jobs after such interruptions, and the challenges married women face in balancing family and work. I also sought to identify key areas needing policy interventions. Although there have been speedy enhancements in maternal protection programs following the broad-scale amendments made to relevant laws in 2001, these improvements primarily represent an expansion of benefit levels, not of the target population, leaving the gap between workers eligible for support and those ineligible unfilled. Stable support measures are needed to help employers effectively manage workforce coverage during employees’ childbirth or childcare leave. In addition, the term “maternity protection” should be revised to foster recognition—legal, institutional, and social—that the issues covered by maternity protection laws extend beyond maternity protection proper and are relevant to more than just women.