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            US Boosts Military Benefits for Parents in Armed Forces

   by Ken Bredemeier

   U.S. defense chief Ash Carter significantly boosted benefits Thursday
   for mothers and fathers in the country's armed forces, a move aimed at
   improving their work-life balance and to keep them from leaving the
   military.

   Carter said the U.S. would double the paid maternity leave for new
   mothers in the military from six to 12 weeks, which he said would put
   the Pentagon "in the top tier of American institutions in offering
   this." In addition, he said the paid benefit for new fathers would
   increase from 10 to 14 days.

   Secretary of Defense Carter told reporters that the military would also
   increase its available child care to 14 hours a day to give two-career
   couples more flexibility in managing work obligations and family life,
   add 3,600 mothers' rooms at military facilities where women could
   breast feed newborn infants and cover the cost of preserving sperm and
   eggs so that couples can conceive babies if they are otherwise unable
   to reproduce offspring because of injuries they have incurred in U.S.
   military operations.

   He said service members with families would be given the option to
   maintain geographic postings they like, rather than being transferred
   every two or three years to new ones, but in exchange would be required
   to extend their service commitment.

   He said a Pentagon study concluded the U.S. military has a 30 percent
   lower retention rate for women of child-bearing age than for others in
   the armed forces, losing many women from the all-volunteer force
   because they could not manage the twin demands of child-rearing and
   serving in the military.

   "Tackling these problems is imperative," he said.

   Carter said the new benefits "reflect the needs of a different era," in
   contrast to a time when most often only fathers worked and mothers
   stayed home to raise children.

   "I believe we'll be at the forefront of the American workplace," Carter
   said, creating "a more family friendly employer."

   At the same time, he emphasized "there's no way to separate service
   from sacrifice," and that the needs of keeping the country strong
   militarily will still be paramount.
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   ts-in-armed-forces/3167199.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-boosts-military-benefits-for-parents-in-armed-forces/3167199.html