The U.S. Navy is seriously making me proud to be an American by increasing the amount of maternity leave that female sailors and Marines can take from six weeks to 18 weeks, thereby tripling the time off and making it the first U.S. military service to offer more than the standard six weeks, Associated Press reports.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who directed the significant upgrade that would affect approximately 5,000 women per year, said of the update, "We have incredibly talented women who want to serve, and they also want to be mothers and have the time to fulfill that important role the right way. Meaningful maternity leave when it matters most is one of the best ways that we can support the women who serve our county."
Hopefully this will serve as an example for other companies to see how important it is for women to be given more flexibility to create the careers and families they want, without having to sacrifice one for the other.
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Lane Moore is an award-winning comedian, actor, writer, and musician. She is the creator of the hit comedy show Tinder Live and author of the critically acclaimed book How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don't. Moore is the front person and songwriter in the band It Was Romance, which has been praised everywhere from Pitchfork to Vogue. She has written for The Onion, The New Yorker, and was previously the Sex and Relationships editor at Cosmopolitan.
