A new study has ranked the countries with the best maternity leave and spoiler––the U.S. is not at the top.
Business.org has analyzed data from the OECD Family Database, which includes 37 countries worldwide, to figure out where to get the best perks for maternity leave. The site ranked the highest countries as those having the most number of equivalent weeks of full pay.
photo: Business.org
The top countries were Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Hungary and Italy which all offered more than 17 weeks of paid maternity leave. Who ranked dead last? If you guessed the United States, you’d be right.
Since the U.S. doesn’t require employers to provide paid maternity leave, the majority do not. Women must either have the luck to find a job that offers it as benefit, or take personal leave hours. Sure, the FMLA act does provide for 12 weeks of unpaid leave, which protects a women’s job, but it does not come with any compensation.
Here’s to hoping that the future looks a whole lot brighter for family leave in America.
––Karly Wood
Feature photo: Camylla Battani via Unsplash
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