Mothers on the Job: Maternity Policy in the U.S. Workplace

Due to its dry, legalistic style, this comprehensive volume will be most useful to those doing research in the field of maternity benefits. Vogel ( Marxism and the Oppression of Women ) focuses on pregnancy in analyzing the arguments for and against two categories for the treatment of working women: a framework based on women's difference from men, and an equality-based framework. The first type seeks special compensation for women due to their ability to bear children, but usually these policies end up damaging their standing in the workplace as well. The equality framework basically ignores the fact that women bear children and insists that women and men be treated in the same manner. In the final chapter Vogel suggests that the solution lies somewhere between the two, with ``differential consideration,'' an idea that already stands behind legislation regulating comparable worth and family and medical leave. In delineating her solution, Vogel also details changes in the treatment of women in this area over the last century or so in the U.S. and occasionally in Europe. Unfortunately, the discussion is based on court cases, with little social history here to round it out. (Apr.)