WASHINGTON — Looking for a way to persuade more women to enlist in the Navy and the Marines, the two service branches have expanded a benefit, tripling the amount of time off that new mothers will be given after the birth of a child.

Under a policy change announced Thursday, female sailors and Marines will get 18 weeks of maternity leave, with pay.

That’s far more generous than the standard set by the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires that women be allowed 12 weeks off and does not require that they be paid. The United States is the only industrialized country that does not provide compensation for new mothers.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said establishing more liberal leave was intended to help recruit and retain more women in the two services, but was also a way of thanking them for their service.

“When the women in our Navy and Marine Corps answer the call to serve, they are making the difficult choice to be away from their children – sometimes for extended periods of time – so that they can do the demanding jobs that we ask them to do,” Mabus said.

The 18 weeks leave must be taken during the first year of a child’s life, but it does not have to be used in one continuous absence. Women who gave birth earlier this year can use the extended maternity leave, Mabus said.

About 53,000 of the Navy’s 317,000 active duty sailors are female, or 16.7 percent. The share of women in the Marine Corps is much smaller: 14,000, or 7 percent, of 195,000 total Marines.

Copy the Story Link