In addition to covering the legislative history of
maternity leave in America since the 1980's, she highlights the progress we have made. Among other things, she discusses how politicians on both sides of the aisle (Republic and Democrat) are trying to talk about
how to support working mothers (and not about whether moms should be working in the first place which used to be part of a legitimate political discussion just a generation ago).
Covert reports that
FMLA still does not protect the 40% of American workers employed at small businesses from even any guaranteed
unpaid time off when they have a baby. Thus, we are hopeful she is right that politicians and politics continues to move in the right direction in the new year.