The U.S. ranks last among developed countries in the world in offering paid parental leave to its workers. Policies are determined by private companies and not the federal government. While recent years some top companies have announced heretofore unheard of maternity and paternity leave policies, there are no guarantees they'll last. These paid plans also rarely reach down to the workers on the lowest rungs.
In 2014, President Obama granted federal workers six weeks of paid parental leave. Last year, Netflix, Amazon, Google and Microsoft unveiled their most generous plans yet. However, even these positive changes are small when compared with paid leave policies on the worldwide stage.
Leading into this year's presidential election, it is likely this issue will attract more attention. Here is a quick primer on parental leave policy in the U.S. and what you need to know when evaluating presidential and congressional candidates' policies:
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- Women comprise 47 percent of the U.S. workforce.
- Women are projected to account for more than half of the increase in the labor force by 2018.
- Only 12 percent of U.S. workers have access to paid parental leave.
- Women make up two-thirds of the low-wage workforce (jobs that pay less than $10.10 per hour).
- Just 5 percent of low-wage workers have access to paid parental leave.
- With each child, a woman's salary decreases by 4 percent.
- The average cost of childcare in the U.S. is $11,666 per year ($972 per month).
- Two in five women do not qualify for the 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected family leave under the Family Medical Leave Act.
- Four states offer publicly funded parental leave: California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
Only 12% of American workers have access to paid parental leave
- In California, 91 percent of businesses said the law either helped or had no effect on their profitability.
- Among 38 developed countries, women are offered an average of 5 to 6 months of paid parental leave.
- About 25 percent of women in the U.S. return to work within 10 days of having a baby.
- Mothers who are not employed are twice as likely to breastfeed their babies at 6 months than mothers who work full time.
- Federal law requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide a private place and reasonable break (without compensation) in the day to allow women to pump breast milk.
- However, just 13 states have laws that require unpaid breaks and a place to pump.
- Just 26 percent of U.S. employers offer some kind of lactation support for breastfeeding.
- There are no penalties for non-enforcement of this federal law. Therefore, there is no effective protection for women who pump at work.
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- Some 43 percent of mothers will quit their jobs at some point in their careers.
- Of these women, 61 percent cited family responsibilities.
- Tech giants like Google and Facebook are leading the way in paid parental leave policies.
