America is the only rich country without a law on paid leave for new parents
Support for changing this is growing in both parties
THE PRESIDENT’S Commission on the Status of Women was unequivocal in its recommendation: “Paid maternity leave or comparable insurance benefits should be provided for women workers.” That conclusion was reached in 1963, when John Kennedy was president, but America still has no federal policy in place to guarantee working mothers or fathers paid time off to care for their new babies. It is one of only two countries in the world, along with Papua New Guinea, that have no statutory national policy of paid maternity leave. The average member of the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, offers new mothers 18 weeks of paid leave.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Looking after baby”
United States
July 20th 2019- America is the only rich country without a law on paid leave for new parents
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From the July 20th 2019 edition
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