U.S Paid Family Leave vs. the Rest of the World

The United States is known as a world leader, whether that be politically, economically, or culturally. Though the United States has fallen behind in the movement to support employees and working families with a national paid family leave policy. According to Business Insider, “out of 196 countries, the United States is 1 of 4 that does not offer a set system for paid family leave.”
United States:
Current Policy- The FMLA act entitles covered employees for up to 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave during a 12 month period.
Recent Activity- In 2016, the Paid Leave Bill was passed in the Senate, yet did not get passed by the House. The Paid Leave Bill requires employers to offer 16 weeks of paid leave for Family Care and 26 weeks of paid leave for temporary disability. This would be given after 1,250 hours of service.
Below is a list of countries with policies that offer paid family leave compared to what the U.S offers.
Sweden:
Current Policy- In Sweden, mothers receive 480 day of paid maternity leave being paid at 80%. Sweden is also leading the way in paid paternity leave offering fathers 90 days of paid leave. Swedes believe that it is important to promote time of bonding between a father and their child.
Vietnam:
Current Policy- In Vietnam, mothers receive 6 months of paid maternity leave. And if the employee has more than 1 child she is also given an extra 30 days for each child. Vietnam maternity leave is one of the longest in Asia.
Iran:
Current Policy: Iran offers mothers 12 weeks of paid maternity leave at ⅔ of earnings from the previous weeks. Iranian Parliament also just approved 2 weeks of paid paternity leave.
New Zealand:
Current Policy: Mothers in New Zealand are offered 14 paid weeks of family leave at 100% of their pay. The New Zealand government is trying to extend paid leave to 18 weeks. Also they are advocating for 2 weeks of paid parental leave.
As the United States falls behind when it comes to paid family leave, state lawmakers are making an effort to provide paid family leave programs in 3 states; California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The FAMILY Act was introduced nationally in 2013 and it states that all workers would pay $2 a week into the program. Though the FAMILY Act was not successful. Recent legislation like the Paid Leave Bill have yet to make it past the approval of the House.

