Not every working woman wants to be a working mom

By Kristin Schepici

When Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announced that she was pregnant but would not be taking a maternity leave, Janice D’Arcy from the Washington Post asked, Is Marissa Mayer doing parents any favors?

“While it may not be a big issue for Marissa Mayer,” D’Arcy writes, “maternity leave is still something that women everywhere are fighting to guarantee for new mothers. I hope that one woman’s personal choice won’t undercut that fight.”

D’Arcy also wondered if Mayer’s announcement would hurt the working mother/parent and noted that the United States is woefully behind most other first world countries when it comes to parental benefits.

Most US maternity leaves result in unpaid time off or short-term disability. The fight for maternity leave and job security are issues professional working mothers/parents have been fighting for a long time. Did this public choice by a top female executive hurt any and all progress that has been made? Will other employers use Mayer’s situation as an example for why maternity leave is not necessary (or even accepted)? And just as the employee who smokes cigarettes gets to take multiple breaks throughout the day for a “smoke” vs. the non-smoker strapped to their desk for a full day; why are women who want babies allowed a paid leave and women who don’t want babies not offered paid leaves for their own non-family desires?

What do you think?