Note that we're the only country on this chart with zero days in the paid columns, providing only a period of unpaid leave.
Well, at least we're still Number One at something I guess. Go USA!
Parental leave in the Americas-----------------------------------------------------------------
Some notable examples of paid maternity/parental leave around the world.Brazil - 120 days paid maternity leave at 100% salary plus 5 days paid paternal leave for the father. Note that mandatory PAID parental leave for BOTH parents isn't just the law in Brazil, it is written in their Constitution!
Canada - 55% of pay up to 413 per week for up tp 50 weeks. According to the chart, even the father has the option of taking up to 35 weeks shared leave at 55% salary if he so chooses.
China - 90 days, 100% paid maternity leave. So those big bad communist Chinese are treating their women better then we do? The horror!
Cuba - 18 weeks maternal leave with 100% pay for the mother. Another 'communist' nation puts us to shame.
Haiti - 12 weeks maternal leave with 50% pay. This is significant because Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Almost too hard too believe the poorest nation on earth can offer this kind of generous paid leave while the richest on earth says it can't or won't.
Iran - 90 days, at 66.7% paid leave. Wow, beaten by freaking Iran. Congrats!
Iraq - 62 days, 100% paid leave. Even Iraq!
Mexico - 12 weeks, 100% pay. Another poor countyr takes care of expectant mothers better then we do.
Venezuela - 18 weeks with 100% pay. There go those commies again, taking care of their women! The horror!
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Parental leaveIn most western countries parental leave is available for those who have worked for their current employer for a certain period of time.<1>
Sweden is one country which provides generous parental leave: all working parents are entitled to
16 months paid leave per child, the cost being shared between employer and State. To encourage greater paternal involvement in child-rearing,
a minimum of 2 months out of the 16 is required to be used by the "minority" parent, in practice usually the father, and some Swedish political parties on the Left argue for legislation to oblige families to divide the 16 months equally between both parents. Norway also has similarly generous leave. In Estonia mothers are entitled to 18 months of paid leave, starting up to 70 days before due date. Fathers are entitled to paid leave starting from the third month after birth (paid leave is however available to only one parent at a time). The amount paid depends on wages earned during previous calendar year -
most will receive 100% or full wage but there is an upper limit of three times national average.
The maternal-leave only system in
Bulgaria is even more generous, providing mothers with 45 days 100% paid sick leave prior the due date, 2 years paid leave, and 1 additional year of unpaid leave. The employer is obliged to restore the mother to the same position upon return to work. In addition, pregnant women and single mothers cannot be fired.
In 2000, parental leave was greatly expanded in Canada from 10 weeks to 35 weeks divided as desired between two parents. This is in addition to 15 weeks maternity leave, giving a total possible period of 50 weeks paid leave for a mother. There is still no paid leave for new fathers, however. In Canada maternity and parental leave is paid for by the Employment Insurance system.
In the UK, all female employees are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave,
39 weeks of which is paid, with the first six weeks paid at 90% of full pay and the remainder at a fixed rate.
Five countries in the world do not offer some form of paid parental leave - Australia, the United States, Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea. However, most employees in Australia are entitled to at least 12 months' unpaid leave for the primary carer, and new parents are able to receive a Baby Bonus of A$5000 paid in 13 fortnightly instalments, which is roughly equivalent to the parental leave payment made to parents in New Zealand. From January 2009, the Baby Bonus has been restricted to parents on a combined income of less than A$150,000.
There is currently a push to expand paid maternity leave in the United States. One organization supporting paid maternity leave in the United States is Moms Rising.<2> Additional information about family leave policies and movements within the United States is available at PaidFamilyLeave.org. It is doing so by appealing to each state legislature individually to obtain maternity leave in that state. The Center for Law and Social Policy is also a leader in the campaign for national paid leave policy and publishes often on the subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave--------------------------------
Parental leave in Asia/Pacific nations