Chatting to a colleague just before my maternity leave, I had shared my appreciation for the enhanced maternity leave the company was providing.

Despite the unknown linked to the birth and the precious few months of life on the one side, and the stress of pausing your career for a year, the pay would give me some headspace for a few months, and set me up to plan my next steps.

She scoffed. ‘I don’t agree with parental leave’, she said. ‘Having children is a choice, I should be entitled to a similar period off – maternity leave is basically a sabbatical’.

This gave me pause, and I still come back to it several months later. At the time, the only parallel I could draw was with the smoker v non-smoker debate and the amount of time away from their work smokers take.

Here are my more articulated thoughts:

1. Issue of fairness

She’s absolutely right that parenthood is a choice and that fairness matters.

I understand how it would feel unfair to cover work for someone on parental leave. And this is coming from a non-smoker.

A more equitable employer would offer all employees structured opportunities for time off (such as sabbaticals, caregiving leave, extended holidays) while still preserving maternity leave as essential.

2. Issue of necessity
Where maternity leave differs from a sabbatical is necessity.

A sabbatical is restorative, chosen for personal growth, travel, or rest.

Maternity leave is, quite literally, about survival and recovery: a woman is physically healing from birth while also caring for a newborn who is entirely dependent on her. There is nothing elective or leisurely about it.

Removing maternity leave would be dangerous.

3. Issue of societal responsibility
None of us asked to be born, but society relies on a next generation to sustain itself.

Children grow into taxpayers, innovators, caregivers, leaders.

Supporting parents isn’t about indulging personal choice, rather it’s about safeguarding the future workforce and the wellbeing of society as a whole.

When companies enable women to recover, bond with their babies, and return to work without career derailment, everyone wins: families, employers, and economies. 77% of women say access to maternity leave influences whether they stay with their employer (SHRM, 2023).

Closing thought
Fairness matters, absolutely. But true fairness recognises that different situations require different types of support.

Maternity leave isn’t a perk or a sabbatical. It’s an essential part of how we sustain healthy people, families, and workplaces.

What if maternity leave wasn’t just about time off, but about setting mothers up for long-term success and promotion? That’s the real fairness test.

– D