John Oliver celebrates Mother's Day by shaming America on paid maternity leave


Sunday was Mother's Day, of course, and John Oliver didn't forget. "In America, there is nothing we wouldn't do for moms — apart from one major thing," he said on Last Week Tonight: Paid time off for new mothers. That puts the U.S. in an exclusive club with Papua New Guinea.
Since the early 1990s, some 60 percent of U.S. women have been eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave — a law that was greeted with apocalyptic warnings in 1993 — but new mothers scrambling to piece together time to heal and bond with their infant is "not how this is supposed to work," Oliver said. California enacted partial paid leave in 2002, and based on its experience, mandatory maternity leave is like hockey on TV at a bar: "It's not hurting anyone, and a couple of people are actually really into it."
Then came the shaming. More than 180 nations give mothers paid time off after childbirth, Oliver said, and "until we, as a country, do something to address this, this should be the only message that we're allowed to send on Mother's Day." The mocking commercial that follows is disturbingly accurate and hilariously awful. "Remember, not only can you balance work and family — you have to," the cheerful male narrator tells new mothers. "You deserve the very best, moms, you're just not gonna get it." Happy Mother's Day. —Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in Zürich
The Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play