The USA is the only developed nation with no paid parental leave; we lag behind nearly every nation in nearly every way. Our lack of family-friendly policy hurts infant-parent bonding, maternal health, and is generally terrible. Tech companies, recognizing this, have raced to add benefits for moms and dads alike, and some cities are following suit. But for workers at companies not competing for top white-collar talent there are few immediate solutions, which means 1 in 4 American moms goes back to work two weeks after childbirth, before her body and baby are ready.
But the momentum is shifting, slowly, in part thanks to the attention being paid to the issue by the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns. Pop culture has begun to start acknowledging that women can’t “have it all” alone, and celebrities are feeling the zeitgeist. Just before the holidays, a group of celebrities —including Milla Jovovich, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jemima Kirke, Kathleen Hanna and Nick Sandow (Caputo from Orange is the New Black) among others — got together to ask why this status quo persists, with a particularly ribald framework: “Do I have to blow the entire Senate?” asks Milla Jovovich, “Because I will.” In between joking about performing sexual favors for Republican candidates and politicians, they repeat the sobering statistics on behalf of an organization called American Women, one of many groups ramping up their focus on this issue. Watch the video below: