Considering the United States’ collective obsession with family values, it’s hard to…Considering the United States’ collective obsession with family values, it’s hard to understand why so many employers offer insufficient or no maternity leave to mothers. However, we think that Google is setting an example that many companies should follow.

According to recent articles in Slate and The New York Times, Google has done extensive data analysis to study women in their workplace. For example, the study targeted when women tend to drop out of the application process in order to make the application process more woman-friendly. While analyzing the data, they noticed a trend: that the attrition rate of new mothers was twice that of their other employees. So to keep more female employees on staff after starting families, Google upped its maternity leave from 3 months to 5 months, and changed their policy to make such leaves fully paid.

However, Google found that, after increasing the maximum duration of its maternity leave policy, the attrition rate was halved. According to the Human Rights Watch, it increases productivity and reduces turnover costs when women are given paid maternity leave.

However, Google’s parent-friendly workplace culture stands in stark contrast to the majority of American workplaces. In a Human Rights Watch report about parental leave, many women who were interviewed either had to take unpaid leave after having children or could only take a couple of weeks of vacation time or sick leave.

Providing paid maternity leave is not a frilly benefit, but a necessity for a modern, industrialized nation. For one, it makes economic sense. According to the Human Rights Watch study, many mothers who took unpaid leave accrued debt, and several of the families interviewed had to turn to public assistance as a result of taking unpaid leave. Employers have to deal with a loss of productivity when new mothers cannot come back to their companies.

Also, these benefits are important for health reasons. Little or no maternity leave can cause postpartum depression and other health problems for the mother. It affects the health of the infant, as well: a lack of maternity leave is associated with a lower vaccination rate for infants and early termination of breast feeding. By following Google’s example and offering a longer, paid maternity leave, companies can decrease health problems in their employees and their employees’ dependents.

We also think that it’s important for students to consider whether or not companies offer this benefit when searching for jobs after graduation. While paid maternity leave may not seem like an important issue right out of college, in the following years it may become a necessary benefit to have. Women should not have to compromise a career because they want a family.