Here's How Much Parental Leave You Get in Every U.S. State
By
Nicole Johnson, Stacker News
On 3/2/21 at 6:30 PM EST
The United States falls behind when it comes to parental and family leave laws. It is the only industrialized nation in the world among 42 countries analyzed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that does not have any federally mandated paid parental leave policy. Several countries do offer extensive parental leave, such as Sweden, that offers robust parental leave with parents sharing 480 days of paid parental leave per child, at 80 percent of the stay-at-home parent's salary.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further demonstrated the need for the United States to update its parental leave policies on both the federal and state levels. While subpar laws surrounding family and parental leave makes things difficult for parents across the country, many state legislatures have introduced bills that will allow for some type of paid parental leave in the future. Several bills have been introduced at the federal level as well, including The New Parent Act, The Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, and The Cradle Act.