Share

Give birth to a baby in France and you can count on at least 16 weeks of paid leave to cuddle and bond. Have a child in Norway and you get 42 weeks at full pay. Sweden promises 390 days at 80 percent of your salary. So how much paid leave does Uncle Sam guarantee America's moms? Try zero, zip, zilch.

That's right, the United States may be the world's richest nation, but we're also one of only 5 out of 174 that don't mandate any paid maternity leave. Three others are poor countries (Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Lesotho); the fourth, Australia, at least guarantees a full year of unpaid leave, plus a small lump-sum payment to all new mothers. We can't even match that: The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) merely requires employers to offer 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, and the rule applies only to companies with 50 or more workers.

We wish we could report that employers are stepping up to the plate on their own. For the most part, they're not. Only 52 percent of companies surveyed with 50 or more employees offer paid maternity leave -- and most pay only partial salary. The result: Only 32 percent of first-time American moms with jobs take paid maternity leave, and only 43 percent use paid leave of any kind.

The impact has been harsh: Nearly 60 percent of first-time mothers return to work less than three months after giving birth. Sure, some may be eager to resume their fulfilling careers. But we're guessing the vast majority would jump at the chance to spend three, four, preferably six months with their newborns.

Meanwhile, studies confirm that paid maternity leave is vital to children's health. It makes sense: The more time a mother has to breastfeed, the lower her newborn's risk of infections. The more bonding time mom and baby have, the lower the chance the child will develop emotional and psychological problems. Our government's unwillingness to provide moms and babies this time together has consequences: In a recent UNICEF study of child well-being in developed nations, the United States ranked in the bottom third. Incredibly, when it comes to infant mortality, we rank a low 33rd among 195 nations.

The benefits of paid maternity leave don't just stop at the front door -- there's evidence that businesses would enjoy improved employee performance and lower job turnover rates. A government mandate would also guarantee that businesses could reap those rewards without being undercut by competitors who don't offer paid leave.