View co-host Sunny Hostin blamed the national shortage of infant formula on the lack of federally paid maternity...
View co-host Sunny Hostin blamed the national shortage of infant formula on the lack of federally paid maternity leave.
hostin said:
I think the fault lies in the fact that we have terrible maternity leave because a lot of women wish they could stay home and breastfeed their children and take care of their children, and the fact is that we can’t do that’s because we have very limited maternity leave and we have to immediately go back to work to take care of our families and feed our families, and the government is not supporting us in that, and I think that’s where lies the problem.
I worked for the government and right after I had my son, I had to borrow time off from other federal prosecutors so I could stay home a little longer, and I had just had a C-section. It was absolutely ridiculous. It hasn’t changed 20 years later.
With all due respect to Hostin, this take lacks facts.
The massive lack of formula milk — which, incidentally, liberal Twitter denied was a problem until they realized it couldn’t be hidden — is a supply chain problem, exacerbated by the formula recall of one of the country’s main suppliers.
Hostin blames high demand for the supply shortage, but the goal of an efficient supply chain is to manage high demand. It’s a big country. There are lots of babies.
Even if federally paid maternity leave were enacted with enough time for childbirth and new mothers, it would not solve the formula shortage or prevent future ones. The Biden administration could allow the importation of infant formula from abroad that meets FDA standards if it is serious about addressing the current lack of supply. They could even invoke the Defense Production Act to speed up formula production in the United States.
View is certainly not a major source of policy prescriptions. But Hostin’s comment attempting to blame this major issue that literally affects women and children the most on a political campaign talking point is just blatant partisanship. It’s so off the mark that it’s almost misinformation.
Watch above, via ABC.
This is an opinion piece. The opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author.
COMMENTS