France: A justice minister shuns maternity leave

Is France’s justice minister a “courageous superwoman or bad mother and a disgrace to the feminist cause?” asked Charles Bremner in the London Times. The minister, Rachida Dati, has been called both since she returned to work last week, just five days after giving birth by Caesarean section. Dati, a 43-year-old single mother, left her new daughter with a nanny and “turned up looking trim in stiletto heels and a tight suit for the weekly Cabinet session.” Some French voters see her as “a pushy, over-promoted favorite” of President Nicolas Sarkozy, and they condemned her early return to work. Her admirers, though, saw it as an example of the drive that took this child of Moroccan immigrants to a top government post, one rarely held by women.

“But is this really the example we want for women?” asked Sandrine Blanchard in Paris’ Le Monde. Women fought hard to get the 16 weeks of paid maternity leave that France mandates. Are we now supposed to “demonstrate that giving birth can be fit into the work schedule like a business trip?” That would imply that women who take their leave are less dedicated to their jobs. Although if we compare most women to Dati, that may be true. She has always been a fame seeker, even going so far as to pose on fashion magazine covers.

That’s simply not fair, said Valérie Pécresse, minister of higher education, also in Le Monde. As a government minister, Dati “really didn’t have a choice” about returning to work. The law mandating 16 weeks off applies to employees of companies. As members of the government, ministers are not technically entitled to any leave at all. And in Dati’s case, there were extenuating circumstances. President Sarkozy was scheduled to announce a massive reform of the country’s justice system the week after she gave birth. As justice minister, Dati simply had to be present for that announcement. France needs a new policy to cover maternity leave for elected officials, perhaps one that provides “a deputy who can fill in.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

As a mom, I can assure you she’ll need all the help she can get, said Karren Brady in the London Sun. I also went back to my job, as managing director of Birmingham City, just three days after my daughter was born. Such a decision is neither “heartless nor ruthless.” Newborns “need little more than feeding and nappy-changing,” after all, and I made sure I spent time with my baby every night. Still, for me, going back to work so soon was a mistake. “Utter exhaustion” eventually overcame me, and I realized I would have to take time to recover. Dati, too, will most likely realize that childbirth and nursing are more “physically traumatizing” than she first believed. After her “show of Parisian poise, even Rachida’s energy will ebb.”