Jessica Shortall: The US needs paid family leave -- for the sake of its future
Jessica Shortall: Cómo EE.UU. le falla a los nuevos padres y a sus bebés
Jessica Shortall is a working mom of two and author of Work. Pump. Repeat: The New Mom's Survival Guide to Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
una madre trabajadora?
this is what you'll be told.
what you'll actually produce
lo que realmente produzcas
with a baby on your lap.
con un bebé en tu regazo.
una madre trabajadora.
We'll look at a lot of them.
Veremos muchas fotos.
iluminación natural,
of every American workplace.
de trabajo estadounidense.
into any Google image search engine,
en imágenes de Google,
blog posts and news pieces,
and the lie that they tell us
y la mentira que nos dicen
to new working motherhood in America,
maternidad de trabajo en EE.UU.,
millions of women back to work
a millones de mujeres a trabajar
and kind of horrifically soon
y horriblemente pronto
why it's an economic problem.
es un problema económico.
with the unreality of these images,
con la irrealidad de estas imágenes,
in a parody series of stock photos
protagonizar una parodia de fotografías
of going back to work
muy incómoda de volver a trabajar
is attached to your body.
de tu bebé está conectada a tu cuerpo.
al tener fugas de leche materna
like leaking breast milk
no baby in this photo,
no hay bebé en esta foto,
las madres trabajadoras.
its contents are aerosolized
el contenido se vuelve un aerosol
para muchas madres trabajadoras,
that they can find to make food
en que pueden hacer la comida
a whole dozen of them, into the world.
was opening a door,
estaba abriendo una puerta,
from all walks of life
todos los ámbitos de la vida
for them to go back to work
para ellas volver al trabajo
10 of their stories with you today.
con Uds. hoy.
some of them are very raw,
algunas son muy crudas,
looks anything like this.
service member at a federal prison.
en una prisión federal.
allowed eight weeks for my C-section.
permitido a 8 semanas de mi cesárea.
that I had been out on 'vacation,'
que hubiera estado de 'vacaciones'
while I was pumping breast milk
puerta mientras estaba sacándome leche
with inmates in the hallway."
los reclusos en el pasillo".
total strangers, send to me now,
totalmente desconocidas, me envían,
sobre la lactancia materna.
to work after seven unpaid weeks.
al trabajo tras 7 semanas sin pago.
during labor, and major tearing,
durante el parto, un gran desgarro,
sentarme o caminar.
to use my available vacation days
mis días de vacaciones disponibles
situations like these in the eye
mirar situaciones como estas
then we have to do something about it.
tenemos que hacer algo.
and believe, this image.
y creer en esta imagen.
what's going on in this picture,
está pasando en esta foto,
and slightly creepy.
y un poco espeluznante.
and all of their babies, are fine.
que trabajan y sus hijos, están bien.
han tomado una decisión,
sus problemas son nuestros.
down into two parts.
de la elección en dos partes.
that women have chosen to work.
las mujeres han optado por trabajar.
47 percent of the workforce,
el 47 % de la fuerza laboral,
or primary breadwinner.
of the engine of this economy,
enorme del motor de esta economía,
for the engines of our families.
de nuestras familias.
our paid work is not optional.
remunerado no es opcional.
are choosing to have babies,
optan por tener hijos,
the consequences of those choices.
deben afrontar las consecuencias.
can sound correct.
puede sonar correcta.
when that happened.
ignores a fundamental truth,
una verdad fundamental,
on a national scale is not optional.
a escala nacional no es opcional.
working women, are having today,
ellas trabajadoras, están teniendo hoy,
protect our shores,
protegerán nuestras costas,
on a national scale is not optional.
a escala nacional no es opcional.
We need working women to have babies.
Necesitamos que tengan bebés.
doing those things at the same time
esas cosas al mismo tiempo
de un examen sorpresa:
women in America do you think
que trabajan en EE.UU.
remunerado por maternidad?
will not get one minute of paid leave
no se les paga un minuto de tiempo
en las licencias no remuneradas.
It's called FMLA. It does not work.
Se llama FMLA. No funciona.
all kinds of exceptions,
con todo tipo de excepciones,
no son elegibles para ella.
I had to take off work.
que nació, tuve que dejar de trabajar.
to qualify for FMLA,
para calificar para FMLA,
para la licencia sin sueldo.
to meet my newborn son,
a mi hijo recién nacido,
hide another reality, another layer.
otra realidad, otra capa.
to just that unpaid leave,
a solo esa licencia sin sueldo,
to take much of it at all.
el lujo de tomar mucho tiempo.
for short-term disability
para la discapacidad a corto plazo
was considered a preexisting condition.
una condición preexistente.
and half of our savings
impuestos y la mitad de los ahorros
but emotionally it was worse.
emocionalmente fue peor.
being away from my son."
al estar lejos de mi hijo".
to go back to work so early,
a trabajar tan pronto,
driven by family finances,
impulsada por las finanzas de la familia,
into the world is messy.
al mundo es complicado.
at work five weeks postpartum.
5 semanas después del parto.
major surgery after giving birth,
después de dar a luz,
6 semanas para volver.
working mothers in America
trabajadoras en EE.UU.
within two weeks of giving birth.
a las dos semanas de dar a luz.
average of 75 hours a week while pregnant.
75 horas a la semana durante el embarazo.
before my baby was a month old,
antes del primer mes,
to afford 10 days off with her baby."
10 días de descanso con su bebé".
with economic and physical implications.
con consecuencias económicas y físicas.
an enormous psychological event.
un enorme evento psicológico.
eight weeks after my son was born.
después del nacimiento de mi hijo.
to returning to work were unbearable."
antes de volver eran insoportables".
after having a baby,
después de tener un bebé,
from postpartum mood disorders
del ánimo posparto
consequences of those disorders,
consecuencias de esos trastornos,
most common cause of death
más común de muerte
del primer año del parto.
but I find it hard to get through.
pero me resulta difícil de asimilar:
that I lost an essential,
de perder un elemento esencial,
time with my son.
y formativo con mi hijo.
left me feeling absolutely broken.
absolutamente devastada.
is the screaming: colic, they said.
son gritos por cólicos, dijeron.
how much longer I could do it.
cuánto tiempo más podría hacerlo.
a mi bebé al trabajo.
while I rocked and shushed
mientras lo mecía y callaba
so I wouldn't get in trouble.
para no meterme en problemas.
cada maldito día
every damn day
lavaba el equipo de bombeo.
while I washed out the pump equipment.
and all the way home again.
al trabajo y a la vuelta.
I didn't get done during the day,
que no hiciera durante el día,
wrong with me that I can't swing this."
que no puedo manejar esto".
about the millions of babies
por los millones de bebés
and tax-paying and military-serving age.
y hacer el servicio militar.
is that babies whose mothers
en casa con ellos
and their well checks in their first year,
las vacunas y chequeos del primer año,
from deadly and disabling diseases.
enfermedades mortales e incapacitantes.
behind images like this.
detrás de imágenes como esta.
who work and for their babies.
madres que trabajan y para sus bebés.
you should be grateful for it,
deben estar agradecidas por ello,
runs through a lot of the stories I hear.
muchas de las historias que escucho.
after my C-section
después de mi cesárea
had failure to thrive.
retraso en el desarrollo.
was very understanding.
mi jefe fue muy comprensivo.
yo pudiera cuidarla".
of countries in the world
de países en el mundo
paid leave to new mothers.
nacional pagada a las nuevas madres.
in total population.
8 millones en población total.
Suriname and the tiny island nations
y las pequeñas naciones insulares
Nauru, Niue, Palau and Tonga.
Nauru, Niue, Palau y Tonga.
the United States of America,
Estados Unidos de América,
of national paid leave work
alguna licencia nacional remunerada
of the future of those countries,
del futuro de esos países,
"We couldn't possibly do that."
"No podríamos hacer eso".
will solve this problem,
resolverá este problema,
offer even more paid leave to the women
ofrecen licencia y atención a las mujeres
and highest-paid among us.
y reciben mejor paga.
are not going to participate in that.
ingresos no van a participar en eso.
economic, financial, physical
económicos, financieros, físicos
decided, not an accident,
decidido, no es un accidente,
on to working mothers and their babies.
madres trabajadoras y a sus bebés.
para mujeres de bajos ingresos,
for low-income women,
for women of color.
para las mujeres de color.
so-called choices to have babies
personales de tener bebés
not to have babies.
personales de no tener bebés.
It shouldn't be traumatic.
No debería ser traumática.
our family now,
nuestra familia ahora,
to care for myself and a new baby.
que cuidarme y al nuevo bebé.
the same way as with our first,
la misma forma que con el primero,
to keep the population stable
para mantener la población estable
working women from doing that.
a las mujeres que trabajan de hacer eso.
to innovation, to GDP,
a la innovación, al PIB,
of this country were to decide
de este país deciden
to do this thing more than once?
de hacer esto más de una vez?
one idea worth spreading,
que vale la pena difundir,
for the most powerful country on Earth
el país más poderoso del planeta
of the future of this country
del futuro de este país
who represent that future.
representan ese futuro.
por el Estado.
for small businesses,
por ser pequeña empresa,
ni por emprendimiento.
to be shared between partners.
en muchos niveles.
should have to go back to work
tener que volver a trabajar
to drain their savings account
que vaciar su cuenta de ahorros
of rest and recovery and bonding.
recuperación y vinculación.
from the incubator to day care
la incubadora a la guardería
all of their meager time
todo su magro tiempo
should be told that the collision
le deberían decir que la colisión
and their needed parenthood,
y su paternidad necesaria,
to a new family, it is consuming,
una nueva familia, se está consumiendo,
es financieramente más vulnerable
is more financially vulnerable
to speak up on her own behalf.
darse el lujo de tener voz propia.
as a mother's issue,
como un tema de la madre,
that these images tell us.
que nos muestran estas imágenes.
consolados por ellas.
why we're told that this can't work
dicen que no puede funcionar
everywhere all over the world.
en todas partes del mundo.
that this American reality
esta realidad de EE.UU.
y para nuestro propio riesgo.
what a working mother looks like.
de una madre trabajadora.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jessica Shortall - Strategy consultant, social entrepreneur and authorJessica Shortall is a working mom of two and author of Work. Pump. Repeat: The New Mom's Survival Guide to Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work.
Why you should listen
What do breastfeeding and paid leave for working mothers, sustainable eye care, hunger, green investing, giving shoes and the business case for LGBT equality have in common?
For Jessica Shortall, they have all been opportunities to change the world: challenges that need sustainable solutions and require a deep understanding of market forces, audiences, and cultures. They all require an intense dive into data, and they all benefit from powerful storytelling.
Shortall has provided strategy consulting to dozens of businesses, social enterprises, non-profit organizations and campaigns in the US, UK and beyond. Her first book, Work. Pump. Repeat: The New Mom's Guide to Surviving Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work, was inspired by her own experiences of circumnavigating the globe with a breast pump. She interviewed hundreds of working mothers and dozens of HR professionals to create a practical, relatable, judgment-free guide for women who want to try to continue breastfeeding after they've returned to work.
Shortall started her adult life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan, and she haven't stopped searching for ways to change the world since, across non-profit and for-profit worlds. In the early 2000s, she co-founded and franchised a non-profit organization that is now active in more than 40 communities. In 2006, she received an MBA with honors from the University of Oxford, as a Skoll Scholar in Social Entrepreneurship. She went on to spend three years providing consulting services to social entrepreneurs. From 2009 to 2014, she was the first Director of Giving at TOMS Shoes, hired to build out the now-iconic One for One giving mission and strategy.
She currently lives in Dallas, TX with her husband Clay and her two children.
Jessica Shortall | Speaker | TED.com