After Gov. Kay Ivey officially signed it into law earlier this week, paid maternity leave is now a reality for state employees and educators in Alabama.
The fact it’s 2025 and this is just now becoming a thing is bewildering to start with. However, we’ll call it a win for all Alabamians. Although it only affects state employees and educators, I do hope more smaller companies across the state will follow suit.
Before now, women who worked for the state of Alabama did not receive any paid maternity leave. That’s not to say they couldn’t take time off when they had babies. Instead, they had to use their paid time off and sick leave in order to make things work. Same for men. Now, maternity leave will be paid for up to eight weeks and paternity leave will be paid for two weeks.
This also applies to stillbirths and miscarriages and adoptions under the age of 3.
It’s a huge win for women across the state.
There has been an undue burden on state-employed women who choose to have a family. This was unacceptable.
Multiple studies have shown that a key portion of mother and child bonding comes in the earliest weeks of a baby’s life. This is also important for moms and dads who don’t have other family members to rely on; there’s no mother who wants to put their baby into daycare as a newborn. Even eight weeks isn’t much, but it’s better than nothing.
My husband and I have been trying to start a family for several months. It’s challenging and it comes with a lot of heartache. But one of our biggest fears involving having a child is childcare. Simply put, we don’t have a lot of family in the area.
Charles’ family is about an hour away, and as you all know, I’m a transplant from out of state. We worry about early daycare for a potential child because, obviously, we both work full-time jobs (and sometimes more than full-time, to be sure).
There’s certainly nothing wrong with daycare. My sister-in-law worked in daycares for years, and I’ve seen the kind of success children can have in that kind of environment. We also have some amazing daycares but having those early bonding weeks and months is essential as well.
It’s fairly common for companies and businesses to offer unpaid time off, but having that paid leave is essential, especially for young women who are trying to start a family.
There’s already an unbelievable cost associated with having or adopting a child. This new law for state employees is a step in the right direction.
Lizi Arbogast Gwin is the managing editor of Tallapoosa Publishers Inc. She can be reached at 434-962-9420 or via email at lizi.gwin@alexcityoutlook.com.
