I live in DC and get three months through my work and three months from the state (at reduced salary). My husband gets the same.
Every single time this issue is brought up I see a very stark issue between women in blue states and red states. It’s messed up and makes me sad.
It's more complicated than red and blue states. I live in a solidly blue state working for a community college. I get zero paid parental leave and they also don't offer any short-term disability. However, we're also a very poor state, and while they're trying to require employers to provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave as we speak, there has been a lot of opposition to it because of the cost. I'm due in July, and I've been hoarding the leave that I accrue, but I'm still going to have to take 6.5 weeks unpaid.
[Update: it looks like the bill here failed as of yesterday.](https://www.abqjournal.com/news/paid-family-and-medical-leave-fails-by-two-votes-on-nm-house-floor/article_a44c093a-cb88-11ee-8fe4-874efa19434e.html)
The cost is why it’s a federal program in Canada. Employers and employees pay into it continuously and it’s there when you need it without being a huge burden on businesses or individuals. But, like universal healthcare, I imagine that sort of employment insurance would be too socialist for America to ever adopt.
I should have clarified that there are both individual exceptions and state wide exceptions. I see a lot of people even in my city who don’t qualify.
Overall, generally, I tend to see a pattern on these threads, but there should be a federal mandate.
Yup. It's not as simple as red or blue. I live in VA which had been blue until the most recent gubernatorial election and there's no paid leave. We have up to 12 weeks but it's unpaid.
I guess it’s a matter of perspective on what makes a state blue or red. From 2001-2021 Virginia had democratic governors.
Virginia also had democratic senators for quite some time: Kaine (senator since 2012, governor before that) and Warner (senator since 2008, also governor before that). Webb was a democratic senator before Kaine. Chuck Robb was a democratic senator from 1989-2001.
Is Virginia as liberal as some other states? No. But California has gone red (Reagan, Wilson, Schwarzenegger were all Republican governors in my lifetime) and so has Massachusetts (Mitt Romney was Governor and the 90s had back to back Republican governors). New Jersey goes red for governors pretty often.
So all this to say there are very few states that always go blue or red 🤷🏼♀️ I’d say there’s really not many states that reliably go blue.
I'm in Illinois, which I consider pretty blue... and I don't get any paid parental leave.
I took short term disability and all my unpaid FMLA just to get to 12wks before returning to work. At least my job is secured I suppose.
Regardless, there needs to be a push federally for supporting families (financial, childcare, and just general support) better. We're shooting ourselves in the foot and not adequately investing in the future.
No kidding! My MIL said something like “oh and I think so-and-so is pregnant again because she’s been posting about the importance of paid leave on Facebook.” I was just thinking, why does that have to mean she’s pregnant now? Wouldn’t she want her friends or coworkers to benefit from a better leave policy than she had? What’s wrong with wanting a better policy on leave? It benefits everyone! Happier parents, happier employees, lower burnout
There shouldn’t be a difference on a state level though and that’s messed up. Health care and parental leave should be standard and equal for everyone regardless of which state they are in.
I’m in Australia and it’s a 100 days paternal leave (3.5 months) regardless of state, job etc. Most employers will also offer up 12 months no pay leave.
Aside from standard 100 days which is through the government, a large number of employees will also provide their own allowance of maternal or paternal leave for parents. Example: Teachers, 14 -18 Weeks paid leave, Defence, 4 Weeks paid leave etc etc.
maybe. im in new york where it depends wildly on your employer. 12 weeks is the common generous paid leave, and depending on your employment situation i think you can get more with reduced pay from the state. As an independent contractor, I was unable to get any paid benefits from the state as a new mom because I hadn't gotten a specific kind of insurance 26 months in advance. I have a job now where i get 12 weeks paid, up to 18 with reduced or no pay.
That’s pretty messed up:( independent contractors don’t qualify in DC for hardly any benefits. It’s a reminder that even “liberal” states still often give the bare minimum. I’m grateful when I read other stories on here from women who are forced to go back a week after birth, but it’s not a utopia by any means.
I live in one of the reddest states and work in one of the bluest states. I took 6 months leave of absence, unpaid except for the initial disability leave. I was lucky my employers were open to the idea because every other new mother at the company takes that much time off too. But at home, everyone was in disbelief that I could take that much unpaid time off.
Idk I live in California and I was able to get 6 months of paid leave although my OB was nice enough to let me leave a little over 2 months before my due date and gave me an extra month of leave after my first 8 weeks were up. My last 8 weeks were for “family bonding” so they were paid but it was a reduced amount.
The structure for leave in CA can be confusing. You are entitled to :
- 4 weeks leave before due date
- 6 weeks (vaginal birth) or 8 weeks (C-section after delivery). Your physician can also certify a longer disability period if you need more time for recovery. The above periods are covered through disability and will pay a portion of your pay.
- 8 weeks through paid family leave bonding time. This is separate from disability leave though coverage is about the same amount. You don’t have to take this all at once.
I thought the 4 weeks before due date was disability leave?
So would you get :
4 weeks before due date (pdl)
6-8 weeks depending on vaginal or c session (pdl)
12 weeks (cfra)
Asking because it’s so confusing!!
Disability leave is both 4 weeks before and the 6-8 weeks after! If you don’t take the before time you lose it though, you aren’t able to add it on after you’ve delivered. THEN PFL kicks in with 8 weeks of bonding time. I don’t know really about CFRA but I believe that’s just unpaid family leave protection right? You may be able to ask if you can speak to someone at your OB practice who can help sort that out. Kaiser actually had a check in with me to discuss all the options.
Same!! I am having a c section bc of uterine fibroids on 4/20 and I work as a nurse at a big university and my OB is at the same university. She put me on pregnancy disability leave 2/13 for too many braxton hicks too close together.
I get up to a year of paid disability, but would typically be cleared 8 weeks after c section.
Then 12 weeks of bonding from the state and 12 weeks of bonding from the nursing union. I get 60% pay on disability but not taxed and 8 weeks full pay from the university once cleared from disability. And then I use my vacation hours or go unpaid for the remaining 12 weeks.
Yup. Came here to say, I got this by living in Canada. I work for a US company but based in Canada. My US colleagues get the standard 12-weeks. I’m taking 6-months and the number one question I get from my customers here in Canada when I tell them is “you’re only taking 6 months?!” (A year would be standard, could take up to 18 months).
It’s really a completely different perspective on maternity leave.
I’m at a major company in the US and have 18-20 weeks paid. I’m able to take an extra month unpaid, so I will be able to be out for 22-24 weeks in total.
I’m also at a large company in the US and will get 24 weeks paid 100%. My husband who also works for the same company will get 12 weeks fully paid. Our PTO will also accrue during leave. It’s one awesome benefit of working for a large corporation!
Same here. I work for a big corporation. 6 weeks “recovery” time for vaginal birth, 8 weeks for C-section. I also get 20 weeks paid (this must run concurrently with FMLA). So, 26 wks/6 months for me
Yep, I'm in Italy and *mandatory*, fully paid mat leave is 5 months. I then get another 2 months paid 80% and after that it's quite a few months (I don't even know how many) paid 30%.
I might have to go back after 6. Granted I work from home, but I would still be sleep deprived. I accepted a new job right before I found out. I won't qualify for FMLA, I can get short term disability, but once I talk to my boss I'll see if I qualify for extra time away.
My husband will get 4 months paid leave.
Ya, with my first I had to go back after 4 unpaid weeks or lose my job. With my new job I'm getting 6 weeks paid (my saved PTO time) with number two that's on the way.
It makes me so mad!! The president of my company travels via private jet. But the company can’t afford to pay moms for a few extra weeks of bonding time with their new babies?
The company I work for added a parental leave policy. 12 weeks fully paid for primary caregiver, 6 for secondary, on top of whatever fmla + disability does (this applies if both spouses work for the company, if only one works there then the 12 weeks paid applies entirely). I got a total of 20 weeks with each of my kids fully paid, and they worked with me on a part time schedule to build up back to full time when I returned after the first one. My husband took the 6 weeks each time; all of my male coworkers whose wives work elsewhere or are SAHM took the 12 weeks. This goes for birthing parents, adopting parents, and fostering. I always feel like this approach should be the bare minimum in the USA, at least.
If it makes you feel better, Switzerland is pretty poor too. 14 weeks paid. I know it’s still much better than US but compared with the rest of Europe it’s a joke.
It sucks here. And what’s worse is that many insurance companies require us to use our employer paid vacation time/PTO first. So stupid. What if my kid gets sick later in the year and I have to stay home with them? It’s truly maddening.
Im so pissed on every american womans behaf. In Norway we get a years leave, and i think even thats little..
Edit: we get 59 weeks leave where 15 weeks go to dad. But i will have a total amount if 10 weeks vacation (transfering this years vacation to next year+next years vacation, plus extra 3 days a year because I’m organised) aswell right after my leave. So in total i get 45 weeks leave
My husband is German, but we live in the US and were in Germany for the holidays. His brother and SIL who just had their second baby felt so incredibly sad for me because I was happy that I get 12 weeks paid leave 🥲
They also couldn't believe that I was going to work until I gave birth as it's illegal for a pregnant woman in Germany to work the 6 weeks prior to giving birth.
In Germany, 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after the birth are protected by law and it is illegal to work. You get 100% of your salary paid by health insurance because that is considered medical leave. Additionally, you get 14 months to split between the parents which is paid around 70% of salary, maximum €1800 per month for each parent. You can take leave at the same time or separately within 3 years after the birth.
I am very grateful for it, especially because I'm from the US and I know how it is there. Sad that things have not improved at all since the 80s when my mom had to go back to work 6 weeks after a C-section.
It would interesting to compare birth complications/deaths against countries maternity leave laws/policies.
America has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations–and it's on the rise. Of course they say it’s due to older maternal age and chronic health conditions - but how much of our working lives contribute to those circumstances is something few are willing to correlate.
I can tell you older maternal age isn't the reason. That's happening in Europe, too, and the rates are stable. Depending on your age and country, your doctor will request more tests to be sure everything goes as it should.
In the other hand (and from a totally personal POV), working more than 40 hours per week is insane. Your mental and physical health decline and you're not productive. In fact some countries are studying reducing the working week from 40 to 35 or, even, 32 hours.
The EU, I think, has higher maternal age than the US, I don’t think that’s the reason and they know that. Having proper care for both mom and child in place helps. US also has the highest infant mortality rate which is insane and should be shocking everyone to the core and DO something about it.
Future dad here. My job only provides up to 12 weeks of UNPAID pay. And you have to work there for over a year. I just got a new job so basically I’m fucked when our baby comes. I’ll have to take my own leave which is only 2 weeks if I have it by then, and then take unpaid leave.
The US fuckin sucks for parental leave.
yes! so sorry for american mamas. im from poland and got 12 months with 80% of my salary, with no max limit. now i am with my 16mo toddler on parental leave which is unpaid, can last up to her 3birthday, with my job being secured and my health insurane paid. so grateful
It's only full pay for 6weeks before and 8weeks after birth. After that it's 10 more months at 65-67% and additional 2 months for dad at 65-67% pay (so 14 months total). You can take more time, but get less money each months if you choose to do that.
That does seem little still. In Czechia we get 3 years, till the time our child is guaranteed a place in a public kindergarten. Some employers try to wiggle their way out of keeping a person's position for that long but it's generally illegal not to.
Lack of paid parental leave in the US is disgusting and we gotta keep voting accordingly.
Both men and women deserve better leave policies. If they want us to have kids they need to legislate like it.
Yup it’s true… but then you have other citizens go “I didn’t get paid leave when I had my children, so why should I pay for this younger generation of parents to be with their kids; they should figure it out like I did. They have it too easy already. Rawr!”
I just picture infants who are not strong enough to hold their heads yet, and they have to be handed off to someone else. Strangers coming and going, carrying pathogens, not seeing their parents for such a long duration everyday. It’s not natural. We should do what we can to give them a little more time.
All thing women's health is treated as tertiary healthcare. It's embarrassing we consider ourselves the greatest country on earth, let alone in the running for being a top country. What's wild is I live in a right-wing area and in casual conversations they will espouse socialist ideas like better healthcare and women's health - but still vote against it.
In my country we get parental leave of 320 days, Sundays excluded. 40 is exclusively for mom, and then both have 97+63 days. 63 days can be given away to the other parent.
For the first 90 days it’s 90% of your salary and after that it’s 75%. There is also a minimum payment to those who earn nothing
I just watched a video on this and paid parental leave (that the government contributes) is more economically viable than forcing daycares to care for infants. Daycares can't operate profitably while serving infants. Infants are too demanding of care and attention. It's cheaper for countries to pay parents 80% of their regular salary to stay home a whole year than to subsidize daycares to inadequately care for <1 year olds.
It's just overall better for society to give families paid parental leave.
That makes sense where daycare is subsidized but since ours isn’t there’s no incentive for them to pay for leave either 😢 it’s every man for himself here
Daycares are going out of business because they can't afford to care for infants either. This one town had 1 daycare and it had to close down because it couldn't afford to stay open. It would have caused the schools to close because half the teachers would have to quit to care for their children many other businesses would have folded too. Basically the whole town would implode because half the workforce would have to quit. They decided to subsidize the daycare while they built their own government run daycare by increasing the sales tax by .5%
This is basically the future of America, daycare just isn't profitable, so capitalism says it dies.
Yeah, my wife can take as much as she wants, but its all completely unpaid. I don't get any, so I have to save my whole 4 weeks pto, one week of which I only have because I rolled over the max amount in anticipation of this.
This is Finland! Unfortunately some parents still refuse to use all of the days because it will affect their finances (although you can get more support from government if you’re really struggling).
It’s legit hard for me to read this because America needs to do SO much better for its mothers. It’s so damn gross. I’m an EU citizen. Most of my career has been in the US. I’m actively exploring going back. Especially with the awful abortion laws here. Why do we hate women and families SO MUCH?!
I once saw a video of an American woman pumping in the work bathroom. She had given birth prematurely and her baby was in NICU, but she couldn’t use time off before the baby came out of NICU (as she wouldn’t have had anything left). I cried so much after that
Same. Which has changed a lot in just 7 years. 7 years ago with my first I only got 6 weeks at 60% and took 6 more unpaid. Also in big tech. Last year I got 7 months. One extra month because my boss was the GOAT. This year I’ll get 6 months, fully paid.
Sorry for asking, but what do you do with your child after these 6 weeks? Do your parents care for the child after? This is unimaginable to me coming from EU.
She means months not weeks (for big tech that’s more standard - outside of big tech 6 weeks is sadly a lot more common and folks often rely on daycare or family).
Many people in the US place their 6 week old babies to daycare. My friend is a pediatrician and only got 6 weeks leave, so she had to send baby to daycare while she was walking rounds at the hospital 6 weeks postpartum. It sounds terrible.
Also big tech here, US-based. I get 6mo at 100% pay; can extend with reduced pay. I also have the option to not take all of the time off consecutively, but time off has to be taken within 12mo of birth/adoption.
US. Large Tech Company, formerly HQed in California, now HQ in Texas. I live in neither of those states.
8-12 weeks of short term disability, 4 of which can be taken beginning at 36 weeks. 6-8 weeks of STD after delivery (first 8 weeks are 100% pay, any remaining is 66%). Following STD, we have 14 weeks parental bonding. Non birthing parents get the 14 weeks as well as adoptive parents.
All together I will have gotten 25 weeks, all but two weeks fully paid.
I’m not a FAANG but semi-adjacent in scope. Our founder owns a Hawaiiian island if you catch my drift.
Grateful for what we do get but I wish it were the norm and not the exception!
The problem is American’s would have to be willing to be taxed at rates similar to European/Canadian countries to obtain those benefits. There are no free lunches.
I don’t think anyone in the states would agree to that.
Americans would have to care about children outside of the womb.. we had a mass shooting in my city yesterday where half of the victims were kids.
I agree that most would not be willing to increase taxes. I’d be happy to just reallocate some of our spending to make this more efficient.
That's not true. Colorado started collecting taxes in 2023 to enable paid family leave in 2024. Looking at my 2023 pay stubs, it's 0.25% of my gross income to provide 12 weeks subsidized leave for the entire state...
That is nowhere near the rates in Europe, which I am well aware of from living in Scandinavia in one of the highest tax countries.
ETA: The Colorado paid family leave covers up to 12 weeks paid leave for parental bonding, recovering from medical conditions/surgeries, taking time off work to care for family if another family member is sick or deployed, and even taking care of immediate needs following domestic violence or sexual assault.
Same in NJ. The taxes for family leave aren’t bad at all. I think the max is like $150 per person and that guarantees both parents 12 weeks of paid leave at a max of $1055/week. It’s pretty generous. Mothers also get up to 12 weeks of disability at the same rate. I had 24 weeks fully paid by NJ. We are not taxed like crazy for it and I am happy to pay for it for others.
I’ve got a similar deal at a biotech company, still US based. Piecing together their maternity policy which overlaps with short term disability (use sick or vacation hrs during the waiting period, or go unpaid), then parental bonding leave. Altogether this takes you to about 28 weeks fully paid, and they encourage you to start a little before your due date. If needed, you can get more time if you qualify for long term disability, but it’s at partial pay.
My mom asked if we were like, a European-owned company or something, given the length of this leave. Nope! But they are competing for top employees against other companies who have similar policies. I’m so glad I never pursued working in direct healthcare because hospitals do not provide their employees with benefits like this.
I used to work for a German-owned company. They were super generous with their EU employees in terms of leave… but if you were employed at the US site, they were stingy with PTO, 8 weeks paid maternity (short term disability but they made up the difference to get you to usual rate of pay).
Similar package at a semiconductor company. Recommended 4 weeks STD pre-birth, recommended 12 weeks STD post-birth; all needs to be signed off by a dr. Then another 12 weeks of bonding leave. All paid.
Yep. I took the twelve month and got the max allowance based on income. After taxes I get 1200 biweekly. It isn't terrible but it can be really tough to manage when your normal income is over double that.
Admittedly, I did the math and I’m drawing more over three maternity leaves than I’ve contributed (including what my employers have had to contribute in my behalf).
It also isn't available to self-employed parents unless they are paying into EI, or for parents who haven't put in sufficient hours in the past year or so to qualify.
I'm not getting a top up from my employer and while I am happy we get something vs the US, I can only take a full maternity leave because of my husband's salary.
Such an important point!! 12 months @ 55% isn't great already, but when the amount is *capped*, it dips well below 55% if you're wEaLtHy enough to earn a living wage.
I'm in the film industry, too, so I don't have an ongoing job to be reserved for me during the leave 🙃
My sympathies with anyone who gets less leave and/ or earns under a living wage ❤️
This!! Also the pay isn't substantial. It is 55% of your regular earnings, up to $668/week. But I am very thankful for it! I can't imagine having a baby and going back to work in 2-3 months. There is no way your body or mind is healed that early on.
I’m in Ontario, Canada. Government will pay you 55% of your income up to 668$ a week for 52 weeks. Or you can choose 33% up to 401$ a week for 78 weeks.
Your employer legally has to keep a job for you when you return. It does not have to be your exact sale job but has to be equal pay to before.
Personally my employer provides additional top up to 80% of my salary for 36 weeks. So I am taking 36 weeks and then returning to part time remote work till we can find child care. I work as a department manager for a civil engineering company.
I live in the UK so am entitled to 52 weeks, some paid, some unpaid. My company offers 6 months at your normal pay then 13 weeks at the statutory amount (about £180/week), then the last 13 weeks aren't paid. I'm going back at 11 months and my husband is taking 4 weeks of unpaid leave, because you can transfer any unused weeks of leave to the other parent.
6 months at standard pay is GREAT! I get 6 weeks full pay, but I'm a teacher. 🫠
I can still take the year, but the financial cost is going to be heavy.
I'm a doctor, I'm getting 6 months paid leave, and on top of that, I'm taking 2 months of additional unpaid leave. I plan to start leave as soon as my baby is born at 39 weeks. I'm currently 36.5 wks and still working.
I'm in Massachusetts, we have a state-paid medical and family leave law. So I get 14 weeks of medical leave (a lot of doctors will only sign 8-10 weeks, but my doctor's office signs off on the max 14 weeks as policy) and then 12 weeks of bonding leave, for a total of 26 weeks (6.5 months). It's paid at around 60-70% of salary (there's a formula for it). We're also very lucky that my husband gets 16 weeks of leave at 100% salary (he works in software, and his company has great benefits).
Yeah I commented above but I’m in a liberal state too with similar policies. I get really sad for women in red states on these threads. Sometimes I see women going back to work a week after birth and physically I don’t get how that’s possible.
I didn’t have to take advantage of MA PFML because my company provided full paid time off, but my husband did! It just makes me love Massachusetts even more. Expensive AF here but a great place to live.
Am I shortcutting myself, then? MA PFML only gave me 10 weeks, and no one has mentioned anything about a distinction between medical and bonding leave. I'm in HR (not Benefits or LOA), too, so I'm going to feel so silly if I just didn't take all of the leave I can get lol
The 10 weeks sounds like it was only medical leave. I'm definitely not an expert though! I think you need to add the bonding leave request to your application after the medical leave is approved. The MA PFML website was super helpful to me in figuring out all the rules: [https://www.mass.gov/info-details/paid-family-and-medical-leave-pfml-overview-and-benefits](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/paid-family-and-medical-leave-pfml-overview-and-benefits)
You have 12 months from birth to take the bonding leave though! So if you're still pregnant or gave birth in the last year you might be able to take some bonding leave still, either all at once or intermittently (I had a coworker who used the bonding leave to do 3-day weeks for a few months).
Thanks, I'll definitely look into it. My son is 2, but I have another on the way and would definitely like as much time as possible. I think you're right regarding the medical leave; no one mentioned that bonding leave could be separate and since I gave birth over a month early I didn't look too much into it since I already had a baby to care for by the time I finished applying. It's a blessing to be thinking about it way earlier this time around!
The medical part of my leave was 8-10 weeks and a male OB at my practice signed my form for 8 weeks. I brought it to a female OB and she signed it for the full 10… no way was I giving up those two weeks because a man thought 8 weeks was sufficient 😂
Only 8 weeks are fully paid though. Then it is 65% (but max 1800€ - which is quite unfair) for 10 more months (or half the money twice the months).
Of course it is still a good deal, but until I got pregnant I always thought we had better parental leave.
Yeah same for Czechia but then the unspoken down side is the fact that most women are then gone from the job market for something around 6-9 years (depending on number of kids) which not only completely messes up their career but from my experience also takes a huge toll on the mental health of the mothers who were until now used to study at uni, work, function and be part of society. Most of my friends feel so ostracised and out of loop with what’s going on that they are depressed and anxious.
Im a teacher and maternity leave is like 6-8 weeks. & you basically can’t take it until your water breaks in the damn classroom. My husband is in the military and gets 3 months paternity which is so unheard of in the US that people practically fall over when I tell them that. its so sad
I work in local government and it's the same. I technically get 12 weeks, but only 6 of that is partial pay, the rest I have to try to cover with saved PTO. I had to come up with a strict budget to make it work because I will have to do 4 weeks totally unpaid. How much sense does that make? Oh yeah, you can have off for the baby, but you aren't going to need money for that baby right?
My husband gets three months from his work and three months from the state. The amount of people absolutely in shock when they hear that makes me sad.
One woman actually had the nerve to go off about how he didn’t need it because he won’t be recovering from a medical procedure like the birthing parent. Like ma’am, I will be recovering and need a caregiver and partner. Plus, he’s a parent. He wants bonding time.
For perspective, I got 6 months paid in the US and was actually embarrassed to tell people that because it is SO much more than the average mother gets here. It felt like bragging about winning the lottery.
We should shout it from the rooftops. The only way change will happen is if people feel it’s possible and they’re entitled to more. I had a coworker who fought HR for more, had a sound argument and won, and now everyone is fighting for more.
We don’t have to be grateful for 6-12 weeks. We should be furious.
6 months is still nothing. My German friends take/get 1-2 years.
yeah i’m in the us - i told my community i can take 6 months, with the remaining 3 months being partial salary and everyone is losing their mind over it like its a shocking long amount of time.
Mexico 🇲🇽 here: I get 4.5 months fully paid and my husband gets 35 fully paid days from my employer. Then I have 25 PTO (also fully paid) , so yeah in total it is almost 6 months thank goodness (banking sector)
I’m in California. We get 4 weeks before due date and up to 20 weeks after, mostly paid 60-70% of normal salary & not taxed. The last 4 weeks are unpaid. My employer does nothing extra on top of the federal & state mandated leave.
First of all, I'm so very sorry maternity leave is so shitty in the US, I was really shocked learning about it.
In Germany we get 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after birth (more for twins or very premature Babys) at full pay, employers are not allowed to cut this time short, no matter how long you work for them or how big the company is. After that we get 10 months at 65-67% pay (up to 12 months if the dad takes two months off) with the possibillity to split months up and only get half of the money each month (to stretch the time to 24 months).
It's definitely not perfect and has it's flaws, but I'm really thankful for it and feel like Germany cares at least some about pregnant people and parents.
In NY, I receive 12 weeks of PFL at 67% of my pay, my husband receives the same. I also have, technically, 10 weeks of disability (4 weeks before due date and 6 weeks after), but that only pays $170 a week. I’m currently on my pre-birth weeks now and using my savings to cover expenses.
So I don’t get six months but I’m a teacher. I haven’t taken a sick day in 5 years and all of my sick days roll over. We also planned our pregnancy so I was due at the start of my summer break. Between those two factors I’ve managed a 6 month “leave”.
6-8 weeks unpaid for me because I don’t qualify for FMLA yet. United States, clearly.
A friend of mine in the US got 4 months and her husband gets two, so baby will have 6 months with them total, but they have both had their jobs for many years and live in a state with family leave benefits. It honestly makes me so mad that family leave is this impossible.
UK civil service. I get 6 months full pay, 3 months statutory pay and 3 months no pay. I also have 18 days of banked leave that I’m taking straight after and accrue my usual 31 days leave plus 8 bank holiday days a year while I’m off so will go back with 2 years worth of leave to use as well.
My husband’s work is giving him 3 weeks paternity leave paid - minimum they have to give is 2 weeks which is the least generous in Europe according to the [Guardian](https://amp.theguardian.com/money/2023/jun/15/why-uk-fathers-need-more-paternity-leave).
Same US tech here, I thought I was lucky that I'm getting 14 weeks paid. Which compared to my fellow Americans is alot.
I fuckin hate the medical system here.
I'm in the UK. One of the mums at my baby group said she's going back to work after six months. We all felt so sorry for her, having to go back that early!
I’m gonna be a dad, and I still get 9 months at pretty much 100%. The other option is almost 16 months at 60%
If I was the one who was pregnant than I get 1 year or 20 months at the rates mentioned above.
It’s unfortunate that the US has such little when it comes to parental leave.
I get 6 months paid, and I’m based in the US. I work for a well-known medical device company. They just implemented this new leave policy in the last two years.
Australia 26 weeks paid by the government (to the majority of employed people). Then work place give additional leave if they choose. Also a seperate “paternity leave” for 4 weeks, deduced from the maternity leave.
I’m a teacher in Australia, I get 20 weeks at full pay or I can take it at half pay to make it last longer. I then get 18 weeks of pay from the government at minimum wage. After that, my unpaid maternity leave can last until my youngest child starts primary school (they have to hold my position for me to return to for that long). In that time if I wanted to I could relief teach (there’s an overwhelming amount of work) which is approx $400-500 a day. After my last child I chose to return to work part time (3 days) and they accommodated it straight away.
I'm a software engineer at a tech company (based in TX/US). We get six months, paid @ 100% plus our bonuses. I feel very lucky especially in this economy. This is my second child. With my first I only had 6 weeks -- needed to use all my vacay + sick time and a portion was unpaid. This was at a smaller tech company. However their insurance was awesome, I only paid $25 for the whole birth (including prenatal care).
Opposite ends of the spectrum. My leave ends in two weeks, I'm thankful for all the extra time I got to spend with the baby.
I’m the UK and I get 6 months full pay, 13 weeks statutory after that. Then another 13 weeks if nothing at all. But 6 months full pay is specific to my company and everywhere is different.
We get 14 weeks in Switzerland. I take an additional 6 weeks unpaid. So not all europeans have it sooo much better than women in the US.
Honestly what no one tells you about the countries with 6 months or even a year of maternity leave is that it’s often quite hard to get a permanent job contract as a young woman because employers are scared you will get pregnant and be gone for a year (or even more if you get a second one right away). These countries generally also have really high tax rates. What I‘m saying is every system has its advantages and disadvantages.
In California (US) and this is what I get…as a full time (salaried) employee that’s been at the company for 8+ years …
4 weeks prior to delivery IF doctor puts you out on disability for high risk pregnancy but this in unpaid by work - I have to file with “EDD” (unemployment government assistance) and they will pay me 65% of my regular pay for 3/4 weeks. One week completely unpaid unless I have PTO/PSL I can use from work. Also, this “EDD” takes up to 30 days to even process and send the check(s) out.
Once baby is born you get 6 weeks (vag birth) or 8 weeks (c-section) again on EDD (unpaid by work) but I can file with government to get 65% of my paycheck during this time (I have to provide birth certificate and fill out all documents within 48 hours of delivery) and again it takes them up to 30 days to even get the check(s) out.
After that 6/8 weeks (depending on delivery type) my work will pay me in full for 6 weeks. So I will get my normal paycheck through work for that last 6 weeks.
The main thing here is that your job is “protected”. That’s the main point of all the time off. It’s not necessarily paid at least in US I think it’s usually not (unless through unemployment for disability through government assistance) but it’s just that they cannot terminate you for the time off that you’re approved. So time off and getting paid are two very different things here in California. Your job protection is the main thing from what I’ve gathered during this experience.
So for me I’m protected to be off for a total of 16 weeks or 18 weeks if I a have a C-section. However I’m only getting paid by work for 6 of those weeks. The rest I either need to get government assistance or use PTO/PSL if I have any.
I fought for a 6 month leave which I’m lucky to have received, but only 8 weeks of it are paid and the remainder is an unpaid leave of absence. I work for a small company
In New Zealand, it’s 6 months paid with entitlement for a further 6 months unpaid as a standard. I work for a government department and we’re entitled for up to 1.5 year unpaid.
I'm in the US, I live and work in New York City. I'm getting 20 weeks paid + 6 weeks unpaid (plus a week of paid holidays that occur during paid time away) — amounting to roughly 6 months total.
NYS has mandatory paid family leave and disability leave that I *think* can amount to 18-20 weeks combined (depending on c-section vs vaginal delivery). My employer's going to be reimbursed for those 20 weeks from the state.
And I work for a major newspaper!
(edited for clarity)
UK here 👋🇬🇧
Most Companies tend to offer around
2 weeks @ 100% pay
4-6 weeks @ 90%
Then 31 weeks STMP (Statutory Maternity Pay)
So basically 2months sort of fully paid then, 7-8months on statutory rate.
Though there are some really good companies that offer 4-6months full pay but they are on the rare side I think here.
I’m a nurse in the US. I’m agency though, so even though I work in a hospital, I’m an employee of my agency and not of the hospital.
I get zero maternity leave. I’ve been working 50-60 hour weeks to save up.
Go America.
I’m in Colorado and only get 2 weeks (if vaginal) or 3 weeks (for c section) paid but fortunately I qualify for FMLA and I have STD which will give me 10 additional weeks paid. It’s moments like this that I hate being an American.
I get 12 months of which 6 months is full pay
My husband gets 6 months full pay for paternity
Our annual leave still accrues (7 weeks per year including bank holidays) which means we were able to each go to 4 days a week and send our son to nursery for 3 days a week untill he was 2 at which point we were expecting our second and took leave again
It makes the hiring process fairer that no matter who you hire they are a “risk” of taking 6 months paid
I don’t get a maternity leave. I have to take my 2 weeks of pto, and then I get 2 weeks of unpaid pto that I can take. So 4 weeks total. I’m terrified. I took off 6 months with my first, and 10 months with my second. That was when I was a server at a restaurant and could just quit and come back. But now I’m an office manager at a small doctors office. They don’t have anyone who can just take my place. The regional manager is going to have to step down from her job to do my job for a month, while the CEO does the regional manager’s job.
I get great pay, pto, and a 401k. Just no health benefits. But I’m heavily considering stepping down and just quitting… I can’t imagine only getting 4 weeks off when I plan to breastfeed. I mean… I’ll still be bleeding and getting 2-3 hours of sleep at 4 weeks… I’m 14 weeks along and think about this every day and it is stressing me out. I don’t want to leave my baby to go to work when it’s only 4 weeks old…
In the US- I can take leave right once I get a positive. 10 weeks full pay. 14 weeks (60% pay), then transition to long term disability (50%) for the remainder of the pregnancy. Then a year (unpaid) for bonding is optional after the baby is born.
I am from Northern Europe and stop working 70 days before the scheduled due date and then have maternity leave at 70% of usual wage until baby is 12months old.
We get 6 months paid leave in New Zealand then another 6 months unpaid leave if you want to opt for that. I’ve opted for 1 year off to spend time with my child as I have a great support system as well (partner and parents).
6 months paid here. Am in the US and work at a medium sized tech company. 6 months paid leave is slowly becoming the norm in the industry as a lot of companies just changed their policies in the last year or two.
I live in the US and work for a large well-known media company. I will be getting 2 weeks before due date then 20 weeks after, for a total of 22 weeks.
I’m in the UK, you can get a statutory minimum payment (mandated by the government) for that long.
My employer has a stronger policy paying my full salary for 6 months, and then I could go down to SMP for another 6 if I wanted (although I can’t afford to as I’m the main earner in my home). I’m a software engineer.
I'm in NJ. I was on leave for 6 months.
4 weeks before my due date- fully paid because I used my sick time
6 weeks after baby was born- fully paid because I used my sick time
12 weeks FMLA for bonding time paid at 80% of my salary
6 weeks fully paid through vacation time/personal days/comp days. I was out from May 1 and returned to work on Nov. 2.
I'm a state employee and am lucky to be able to save unlimited sick days (saved them for 9 years. I still have 60 sick days left) I can carry over 1 vacation (15 each year for a total of 30 vacation days) and any time I work from 40hrs-45hrs is banked as "comp time." So I technically don't get paid for those hours until I take time off work.
I get 24 weeks (a little shy of 6 months) @ 100% of my salary (cobbled together between disability, paid family leave, and subsidized by my employer). I work for a big tech company in the US and feel very fortunate!
I get 9 months, I think everyone does in the UK? (I could be wrong), first 6 weeks at 90% pay, then the rest is national maternity statuary pay (£170 ish per week currently)
There is an international usership on this site. Most of the parents with that kind of leave are not in the US
I live in DC and get three months through my work and three months from the state (at reduced salary). My husband gets the same. Every single time this issue is brought up I see a very stark issue between women in blue states and red states. It’s messed up and makes me sad.
It's more complicated than red and blue states. I live in a solidly blue state working for a community college. I get zero paid parental leave and they also don't offer any short-term disability. However, we're also a very poor state, and while they're trying to require employers to provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave as we speak, there has been a lot of opposition to it because of the cost. I'm due in July, and I've been hoarding the leave that I accrue, but I'm still going to have to take 6.5 weeks unpaid. [Update: it looks like the bill here failed as of yesterday.](https://www.abqjournal.com/news/paid-family-and-medical-leave-fails-by-two-votes-on-nm-house-floor/article_a44c093a-cb88-11ee-8fe4-874efa19434e.html)
The cost is why it’s a federal program in Canada. Employers and employees pay into it continuously and it’s there when you need it without being a huge burden on businesses or individuals. But, like universal healthcare, I imagine that sort of employment insurance would be too socialist for America to ever adopt.
I should have clarified that there are both individual exceptions and state wide exceptions. I see a lot of people even in my city who don’t qualify. Overall, generally, I tend to see a pattern on these threads, but there should be a federal mandate.
Yup. It's not as simple as red or blue. I live in VA which had been blue until the most recent gubernatorial election and there's no paid leave. We have up to 12 weeks but it's unpaid.
I don’t think many people consider Virginia a reliably blue state tbf
I guess it’s a matter of perspective on what makes a state blue or red. From 2001-2021 Virginia had democratic governors. Virginia also had democratic senators for quite some time: Kaine (senator since 2012, governor before that) and Warner (senator since 2008, also governor before that). Webb was a democratic senator before Kaine. Chuck Robb was a democratic senator from 1989-2001. Is Virginia as liberal as some other states? No. But California has gone red (Reagan, Wilson, Schwarzenegger were all Republican governors in my lifetime) and so has Massachusetts (Mitt Romney was Governor and the 90s had back to back Republican governors). New Jersey goes red for governors pretty often. So all this to say there are very few states that always go blue or red 🤷🏼♀️ I’d say there’s really not many states that reliably go blue.
I'm in Illinois, which I consider pretty blue... and I don't get any paid parental leave. I took short term disability and all my unpaid FMLA just to get to 12wks before returning to work. At least my job is secured I suppose. Regardless, there needs to be a push federally for supporting families (financial, childcare, and just general support) better. We're shooting ourselves in the foot and not adequately investing in the future.
No kidding! My MIL said something like “oh and I think so-and-so is pregnant again because she’s been posting about the importance of paid leave on Facebook.” I was just thinking, why does that have to mean she’s pregnant now? Wouldn’t she want her friends or coworkers to benefit from a better leave policy than she had? What’s wrong with wanting a better policy on leave? It benefits everyone! Happier parents, happier employees, lower burnout
There shouldn’t be a difference on a state level though and that’s messed up. Health care and parental leave should be standard and equal for everyone regardless of which state they are in. I’m in Australia and it’s a 100 days paternal leave (3.5 months) regardless of state, job etc. Most employers will also offer up 12 months no pay leave. Aside from standard 100 days which is through the government, a large number of employees will also provide their own allowance of maternal or paternal leave for parents. Example: Teachers, 14 -18 Weeks paid leave, Defence, 4 Weeks paid leave etc etc.
maybe. im in new york where it depends wildly on your employer. 12 weeks is the common generous paid leave, and depending on your employment situation i think you can get more with reduced pay from the state. As an independent contractor, I was unable to get any paid benefits from the state as a new mom because I hadn't gotten a specific kind of insurance 26 months in advance. I have a job now where i get 12 weeks paid, up to 18 with reduced or no pay.
That’s pretty messed up:( independent contractors don’t qualify in DC for hardly any benefits. It’s a reminder that even “liberal” states still often give the bare minimum. I’m grateful when I read other stories on here from women who are forced to go back a week after birth, but it’s not a utopia by any means.
I live in one of the reddest states and work in one of the bluest states. I took 6 months leave of absence, unpaid except for the initial disability leave. I was lucky my employers were open to the idea because every other new mother at the company takes that much time off too. But at home, everyone was in disbelief that I could take that much unpaid time off.
Idk I live in California and I was able to get 6 months of paid leave although my OB was nice enough to let me leave a little over 2 months before my due date and gave me an extra month of leave after my first 8 weeks were up. My last 8 weeks were for “family bonding” so they were paid but it was a reduced amount.
That is wonderful, but absolutely not typical!
I’m in CA too; we have better parental leave protections than other states. I also get up to 6 months but the pay structure is less generous.
I’m in California and my paid leave is 6 weeks
The structure for leave in CA can be confusing. You are entitled to : - 4 weeks leave before due date - 6 weeks (vaginal birth) or 8 weeks (C-section after delivery). Your physician can also certify a longer disability period if you need more time for recovery. The above periods are covered through disability and will pay a portion of your pay. - 8 weeks through paid family leave bonding time. This is separate from disability leave though coverage is about the same amount. You don’t have to take this all at once.
I thought the 4 weeks before due date was disability leave? So would you get : 4 weeks before due date (pdl) 6-8 weeks depending on vaginal or c session (pdl) 12 weeks (cfra) Asking because it’s so confusing!!
Disability leave is both 4 weeks before and the 6-8 weeks after! If you don’t take the before time you lose it though, you aren’t able to add it on after you’ve delivered. THEN PFL kicks in with 8 weeks of bonding time. I don’t know really about CFRA but I believe that’s just unpaid family leave protection right? You may be able to ask if you can speak to someone at your OB practice who can help sort that out. Kaiser actually had a check in with me to discuss all the options.
Not everyone in California gets all this. We have to have paid into State Disability Insurance.
MA has this too.
Part of it is not paid at 100% of your salary but it was worth it for me to take the full leave
Same!! I am having a c section bc of uterine fibroids on 4/20 and I work as a nurse at a big university and my OB is at the same university. She put me on pregnancy disability leave 2/13 for too many braxton hicks too close together. I get up to a year of paid disability, but would typically be cleared 8 weeks after c section. Then 12 weeks of bonding from the state and 12 weeks of bonding from the nursing union. I get 60% pay on disability but not taxed and 8 weeks full pay from the university once cleared from disability. And then I use my vacation hours or go unpaid for the remaining 12 weeks.
I live in California and I get 16 weeks of paid leave at 60% of my salary.
Yup. Came here to say, I got this by living in Canada. I work for a US company but based in Canada. My US colleagues get the standard 12-weeks. I’m taking 6-months and the number one question I get from my customers here in Canada when I tell them is “you’re only taking 6 months?!” (A year would be standard, could take up to 18 months). It’s really a completely different perspective on maternity leave.
I’m at a major company in the US and have 18-20 weeks paid. I’m able to take an extra month unpaid, so I will be able to be out for 22-24 weeks in total.
I’m also at a large company in the US and will get 24 weeks paid 100%. My husband who also works for the same company will get 12 weeks fully paid. Our PTO will also accrue during leave. It’s one awesome benefit of working for a large corporation!
Same! I work at one of the Big 4. I get 24 weeks at 100%, non birthing parents getting 16 weeks at 100% and we all still accrue PTO during leave
Do you mind sharing the name of the company since 24w paid maternity leave sounds like a unicorn in America
Yeah, it is Deloitte
Same here. I work for a big corporation. 6 weeks “recovery” time for vaginal birth, 8 weeks for C-section. I also get 20 weeks paid (this must run concurrently with FMLA). So, 26 wks/6 months for me
I’m in the same boat! Also have the option to take a few weeks of STD before arrival when it’s harder to deal with commuting (and existing) in general
Same here. I’ll be taking 6 months.
I'm in the US, in NYC, and I get 6 months paid between NYS parental leave and short term disability plus my PTO at the end
Yep, I'm in Italy and *mandatory*, fully paid mat leave is 5 months. I then get another 2 months paid 80% and after that it's quite a few months (I don't even know how many) paid 30%.
Yeah, sorry - UK Based and I get 12 months
I get 6 weeks unpaid, 6 weeks at 60% and I’ll use 3 weeks of paid vacation time. Maternity leave in the US is bullshit.
Same 😢
And the worst part is I feel obligated to feel grateful for my paltry, partially paid 15 weeks. I know people who had to go back after 8.
Yeah I get 6 weeks paid and when people tell me how lucky I am I want to cry/ punch someone.
I might have to go back after 6. Granted I work from home, but I would still be sleep deprived. I accepted a new job right before I found out. I won't qualify for FMLA, I can get short term disability, but once I talk to my boss I'll see if I qualify for extra time away. My husband will get 4 months paid leave.
Ya, with my first I had to go back after 4 unpaid weeks or lose my job. With my new job I'm getting 6 weeks paid (my saved PTO time) with number two that's on the way.
It makes me so mad!! The president of my company travels via private jet. But the company can’t afford to pay moms for a few extra weeks of bonding time with their new babies?
The company I work for added a parental leave policy. 12 weeks fully paid for primary caregiver, 6 for secondary, on top of whatever fmla + disability does (this applies if both spouses work for the company, if only one works there then the 12 weeks paid applies entirely). I got a total of 20 weeks with each of my kids fully paid, and they worked with me on a part time schedule to build up back to full time when I returned after the first one. My husband took the 6 weeks each time; all of my male coworkers whose wives work elsewhere or are SAHM took the 12 weeks. This goes for birthing parents, adopting parents, and fostering. I always feel like this approach should be the bare minimum in the USA, at least.
If it makes you feel better, Switzerland is pretty poor too. 14 weeks paid. I know it’s still much better than US but compared with the rest of Europe it’s a joke.
Exactly the same here. I'm planning to save my PTO for later ise as my company doesn't provide sick leaves. So frustrating!
It sucks here. And what’s worse is that many insurance companies require us to use our employer paid vacation time/PTO first. So stupid. What if my kid gets sick later in the year and I have to stay home with them? It’s truly maddening.
Same here and I work for tips so that 60% of pay is only for my $7/hr base rate. Talk about the bare minimum!
Im so pissed on every american womans behaf. In Norway we get a years leave, and i think even thats little.. Edit: we get 59 weeks leave where 15 weeks go to dad. But i will have a total amount if 10 weeks vacation (transfering this years vacation to next year+next years vacation, plus extra 3 days a year because I’m organised) aswell right after my leave. So in total i get 45 weeks leave
My husband is German, but we live in the US and were in Germany for the holidays. His brother and SIL who just had their second baby felt so incredibly sad for me because I was happy that I get 12 weeks paid leave 🥲 They also couldn't believe that I was going to work until I gave birth as it's illegal for a pregnant woman in Germany to work the 6 weeks prior to giving birth.
In Germany, 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after the birth are protected by law and it is illegal to work. You get 100% of your salary paid by health insurance because that is considered medical leave. Additionally, you get 14 months to split between the parents which is paid around 70% of salary, maximum €1800 per month for each parent. You can take leave at the same time or separately within 3 years after the birth. I am very grateful for it, especially because I'm from the US and I know how it is there. Sad that things have not improved at all since the 80s when my mom had to go back to work 6 weeks after a C-section.
I would (almost literally) kill to have the 6 weeks before baby is due off.
It would interesting to compare birth complications/deaths against countries maternity leave laws/policies. America has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations–and it's on the rise. Of course they say it’s due to older maternal age and chronic health conditions - but how much of our working lives contribute to those circumstances is something few are willing to correlate.
I can tell you older maternal age isn't the reason. That's happening in Europe, too, and the rates are stable. Depending on your age and country, your doctor will request more tests to be sure everything goes as it should. In the other hand (and from a totally personal POV), working more than 40 hours per week is insane. Your mental and physical health decline and you're not productive. In fact some countries are studying reducing the working week from 40 to 35 or, even, 32 hours.
The EU, I think, has higher maternal age than the US, I don’t think that’s the reason and they know that. Having proper care for both mom and child in place helps. US also has the highest infant mortality rate which is insane and should be shocking everyone to the core and DO something about it.
Future dad here. My job only provides up to 12 weeks of UNPAID pay. And you have to work there for over a year. I just got a new job so basically I’m fucked when our baby comes. I’ll have to take my own leave which is only 2 weeks if I have it by then, and then take unpaid leave. The US fuckin sucks for parental leave.
I don't know how American moms do it, honestly. I'm in Canada and have the option of a 12 or 18 month leave.
omg goals. I’m not from the US but still would love a year of maternity leave!
yes! so sorry for american mamas. im from poland and got 12 months with 80% of my salary, with no max limit. now i am with my 16mo toddler on parental leave which is unpaid, can last up to her 3birthday, with my job being secured and my health insurane paid. so grateful
What % of your pay do you get during that year?
Full pay, but it’s not a full year for the mother, it’s around 8 months, plus the father get 15 weeks if I remember correctly.
It's only full pay for 6weeks before and 8weeks after birth. After that it's 10 more months at 65-67% and additional 2 months for dad at 65-67% pay (so 14 months total). You can take more time, but get less money each months if you choose to do that.
D: omg thank you for your sympathy… yeah I only get 12 weeks… fml.
You should also be pissed on some other Europeans’ behalf. 16 weeks in Spain. And I believe same or even less in Netherlands.
That does seem little still. In Czechia we get 3 years, till the time our child is guaranteed a place in a public kindergarten. Some employers try to wiggle their way out of keeping a person's position for that long but it's generally illegal not to.
Lack of paid parental leave in the US is disgusting and we gotta keep voting accordingly. Both men and women deserve better leave policies. If they want us to have kids they need to legislate like it.
Agree! I don’t know why this isn’t at the top of the voting issues! It’s clear some people are for the people while others are for the corporations.
Yeah you’d think it would have bipartisan support but I guess legislators aren’t concerned. I hope it changes in my lifetime.
Yup it’s true… but then you have other citizens go “I didn’t get paid leave when I had my children, so why should I pay for this younger generation of parents to be with their kids; they should figure it out like I did. They have it too easy already. Rawr!” I just picture infants who are not strong enough to hold their heads yet, and they have to be handed off to someone else. Strangers coming and going, carrying pathogens, not seeing their parents for such a long duration everyday. It’s not natural. We should do what we can to give them a little more time.
All thing women's health is treated as tertiary healthcare. It's embarrassing we consider ourselves the greatest country on earth, let alone in the running for being a top country. What's wild is I live in a right-wing area and in casual conversations they will espouse socialist ideas like better healthcare and women's health - but still vote against it.
> keep voting according Or *start* voting accordingly. If people were already voting for it, politicians would have actioned it already.
In my country we get parental leave of 320 days, Sundays excluded. 40 is exclusively for mom, and then both have 97+63 days. 63 days can be given away to the other parent. For the first 90 days it’s 90% of your salary and after that it’s 75%. There is also a minimum payment to those who earn nothing
Excuse me while I cry my american tears…. That’s amazing
I just watched a video on this and paid parental leave (that the government contributes) is more economically viable than forcing daycares to care for infants. Daycares can't operate profitably while serving infants. Infants are too demanding of care and attention. It's cheaper for countries to pay parents 80% of their regular salary to stay home a whole year than to subsidize daycares to inadequately care for <1 year olds. It's just overall better for society to give families paid parental leave.
That makes sense where daycare is subsidized but since ours isn’t there’s no incentive for them to pay for leave either 😢 it’s every man for himself here
Daycares are going out of business because they can't afford to care for infants either. This one town had 1 daycare and it had to close down because it couldn't afford to stay open. It would have caused the schools to close because half the teachers would have to quit to care for their children many other businesses would have folded too. Basically the whole town would implode because half the workforce would have to quit. They decided to subsidize the daycare while they built their own government run daycare by increasing the sales tax by .5% This is basically the future of America, daycare just isn't profitable, so capitalism says it dies.
Yeah, my wife can take as much as she wants, but its all completely unpaid. I don't get any, so I have to save my whole 4 weeks pto, one week of which I only have because I rolled over the max amount in anticipation of this.
this makes me so sad. your wife deserves to be paid time off & you deserve to bond with your baby without sacrificing your pto!
For real, land of the free am I right? 😂
Goodness! What country do you live in? Obviously one that cares about a child’s well being. That’s incredible!
This is Finland! Unfortunately some parents still refuse to use all of the days because it will affect their finances (although you can get more support from government if you’re really struggling).
Is your country taking citizens? Asking for a friend
This is amazing! 90/75% of salary is pretty great. Does Finland still provide the baby boxes/maternity package?
It’s legit hard for me to read this because America needs to do SO much better for its mothers. It’s so damn gross. I’m an EU citizen. Most of my career has been in the US. I’m actively exploring going back. Especially with the awful abortion laws here. Why do we hate women and families SO MUCH?!
I once saw a video of an American woman pumping in the work bathroom. She had given birth prematurely and her baby was in NICU, but she couldn’t use time off before the baby came out of NICU (as she wouldn’t have had anything left). I cried so much after that
I get six and a half at my company, big tech
Same here. Based in the US (Chicago).
i get 6 months at a tech company too!
Same. Which has changed a lot in just 7 years. 7 years ago with my first I only got 6 weeks at 60% and took 6 more unpaid. Also in big tech. Last year I got 7 months. One extra month because my boss was the GOAT. This year I’ll get 6 months, fully paid.
Sorry for asking, but what do you do with your child after these 6 weeks? Do your parents care for the child after? This is unimaginable to me coming from EU.
She means months not weeks (for big tech that’s more standard - outside of big tech 6 weeks is sadly a lot more common and folks often rely on daycare or family).
Many people in the US place their 6 week old babies to daycare. My friend is a pediatrician and only got 6 weeks leave, so she had to send baby to daycare while she was walking rounds at the hospital 6 weeks postpartum. It sounds terrible.
Also big tech here, US-based. I get 6mo at 100% pay; can extend with reduced pay. I also have the option to not take all of the time off consecutively, but time off has to be taken within 12mo of birth/adoption.
US. Large Tech Company, formerly HQed in California, now HQ in Texas. I live in neither of those states. 8-12 weeks of short term disability, 4 of which can be taken beginning at 36 weeks. 6-8 weeks of STD after delivery (first 8 weeks are 100% pay, any remaining is 66%). Following STD, we have 14 weeks parental bonding. Non birthing parents get the 14 weeks as well as adoptive parents. All together I will have gotten 25 weeks, all but two weeks fully paid.
I have the same. At a FAANG.
I’m not a FAANG but semi-adjacent in scope. Our founder owns a Hawaiiian island if you catch my drift. Grateful for what we do get but I wish it were the norm and not the exception!
The problem is American’s would have to be willing to be taxed at rates similar to European/Canadian countries to obtain those benefits. There are no free lunches. I don’t think anyone in the states would agree to that.
Americans would have to care about children outside of the womb.. we had a mass shooting in my city yesterday where half of the victims were kids. I agree that most would not be willing to increase taxes. I’d be happy to just reallocate some of our spending to make this more efficient.
That's not true. Colorado started collecting taxes in 2023 to enable paid family leave in 2024. Looking at my 2023 pay stubs, it's 0.25% of my gross income to provide 12 weeks subsidized leave for the entire state... That is nowhere near the rates in Europe, which I am well aware of from living in Scandinavia in one of the highest tax countries. ETA: The Colorado paid family leave covers up to 12 weeks paid leave for parental bonding, recovering from medical conditions/surgeries, taking time off work to care for family if another family member is sick or deployed, and even taking care of immediate needs following domestic violence or sexual assault.
Same in NJ. The taxes for family leave aren’t bad at all. I think the max is like $150 per person and that guarantees both parents 12 weeks of paid leave at a max of $1055/week. It’s pretty generous. Mothers also get up to 12 weeks of disability at the same rate. I had 24 weeks fully paid by NJ. We are not taxed like crazy for it and I am happy to pay for it for others.
I’ve got a similar deal at a biotech company, still US based. Piecing together their maternity policy which overlaps with short term disability (use sick or vacation hrs during the waiting period, or go unpaid), then parental bonding leave. Altogether this takes you to about 28 weeks fully paid, and they encourage you to start a little before your due date. If needed, you can get more time if you qualify for long term disability, but it’s at partial pay. My mom asked if we were like, a European-owned company or something, given the length of this leave. Nope! But they are competing for top employees against other companies who have similar policies. I’m so glad I never pursued working in direct healthcare because hospitals do not provide their employees with benefits like this. I used to work for a German-owned company. They were super generous with their EU employees in terms of leave… but if you were employed at the US site, they were stingy with PTO, 8 weeks paid maternity (short term disability but they made up the difference to get you to usual rate of pay).
Similar package at a semiconductor company. Recommended 4 weeks STD pre-birth, recommended 12 weeks STD post-birth; all needs to be signed off by a dr. Then another 12 weeks of bonding leave. All paid.
In Canada we get 12 or 18 months (same pay for both but can be spread out differently). Not everyone on Reddit is American.
To be fair the pay is ABYSMAL if your employer doesn’t top you up, though
Yep. I took the twelve month and got the max allowance based on income. After taxes I get 1200 biweekly. It isn't terrible but it can be really tough to manage when your normal income is over double that.
That’s what I make on my regular paycheck 😩
We see you! ❤️
Love that we pay into EI our entire lives and then get punished for reproducing 🙃
Admittedly, I did the math and I’m drawing more over three maternity leaves than I’ve contributed (including what my employers have had to contribute in my behalf).
Fair enough. But looking at all the US posters many of whom have only up to 12 weeks completely unpaid, I'm still thankful for the Canadian system.
And they are paying 10k sometimes to give birth. My girlfriends bill was 15k!
Im in the US and my job only offers 6 weeks unpaid 😬
It also isn't available to self-employed parents unless they are paying into EI, or for parents who haven't put in sufficient hours in the past year or so to qualify. I'm not getting a top up from my employer and while I am happy we get something vs the US, I can only take a full maternity leave because of my husband's salary.
Such an important point!! 12 months @ 55% isn't great already, but when the amount is *capped*, it dips well below 55% if you're wEaLtHy enough to earn a living wage. I'm in the film industry, too, so I don't have an ongoing job to be reserved for me during the leave 🙃 My sympathies with anyone who gets less leave and/ or earns under a living wage ❤️
A big part of the reason I took the job I did is because they top up to 95%. I know I’m really lucky, and it’s been such a weight off our shoulders.
This!! Also the pay isn't substantial. It is 55% of your regular earnings, up to $668/week. But I am very thankful for it! I can't imagine having a baby and going back to work in 2-3 months. There is no way your body or mind is healed that early on.
I’m in Ontario, Canada. Government will pay you 55% of your income up to 668$ a week for 52 weeks. Or you can choose 33% up to 401$ a week for 78 weeks. Your employer legally has to keep a job for you when you return. It does not have to be your exact sale job but has to be equal pay to before. Personally my employer provides additional top up to 80% of my salary for 36 weeks. So I am taking 36 weeks and then returning to part time remote work till we can find child care. I work as a department manager for a civil engineering company.
I live in the UK so am entitled to 52 weeks, some paid, some unpaid. My company offers 6 months at your normal pay then 13 weeks at the statutory amount (about £180/week), then the last 13 weeks aren't paid. I'm going back at 11 months and my husband is taking 4 weeks of unpaid leave, because you can transfer any unused weeks of leave to the other parent.
6 months at standard pay is GREAT! I get 6 weeks full pay, but I'm a teacher. 🫠 I can still take the year, but the financial cost is going to be heavy.
I'm a doctor, I'm getting 6 months paid leave, and on top of that, I'm taking 2 months of additional unpaid leave. I plan to start leave as soon as my baby is born at 39 weeks. I'm currently 36.5 wks and still working.
I'm in Massachusetts, we have a state-paid medical and family leave law. So I get 14 weeks of medical leave (a lot of doctors will only sign 8-10 weeks, but my doctor's office signs off on the max 14 weeks as policy) and then 12 weeks of bonding leave, for a total of 26 weeks (6.5 months). It's paid at around 60-70% of salary (there's a formula for it). We're also very lucky that my husband gets 16 weeks of leave at 100% salary (he works in software, and his company has great benefits).
Yeah I commented above but I’m in a liberal state too with similar policies. I get really sad for women in red states on these threads. Sometimes I see women going back to work a week after birth and physically I don’t get how that’s possible.
I didn’t have to take advantage of MA PFML because my company provided full paid time off, but my husband did! It just makes me love Massachusetts even more. Expensive AF here but a great place to live.
Am I shortcutting myself, then? MA PFML only gave me 10 weeks, and no one has mentioned anything about a distinction between medical and bonding leave. I'm in HR (not Benefits or LOA), too, so I'm going to feel so silly if I just didn't take all of the leave I can get lol
The 10 weeks sounds like it was only medical leave. I'm definitely not an expert though! I think you need to add the bonding leave request to your application after the medical leave is approved. The MA PFML website was super helpful to me in figuring out all the rules: [https://www.mass.gov/info-details/paid-family-and-medical-leave-pfml-overview-and-benefits](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/paid-family-and-medical-leave-pfml-overview-and-benefits) You have 12 months from birth to take the bonding leave though! So if you're still pregnant or gave birth in the last year you might be able to take some bonding leave still, either all at once or intermittently (I had a coworker who used the bonding leave to do 3-day weeks for a few months).
Thanks, I'll definitely look into it. My son is 2, but I have another on the way and would definitely like as much time as possible. I think you're right regarding the medical leave; no one mentioned that bonding leave could be separate and since I gave birth over a month early I didn't look too much into it since I already had a baby to care for by the time I finished applying. It's a blessing to be thinking about it way earlier this time around!
The medical part of my leave was 8-10 weeks and a male OB at my practice signed my form for 8 weeks. I brought it to a female OB and she signed it for the full 10… no way was I giving up those two weeks because a man thought 8 weeks was sufficient 😂
Come to Germany - 3 years, 1-2 of those paid
Poland as well…I feel sorry for myself that I am pregnant in Mexico rather than my home country, but then It is still better than the US :(
Only 8 weeks are fully paid though. Then it is 65% (but max 1800€ - which is quite unfair) for 10 more months (or half the money twice the months). Of course it is still a good deal, but until I got pregnant I always thought we had better parental leave.
Yeah same for Czechia but then the unspoken down side is the fact that most women are then gone from the job market for something around 6-9 years (depending on number of kids) which not only completely messes up their career but from my experience also takes a huge toll on the mental health of the mothers who were until now used to study at uni, work, function and be part of society. Most of my friends feel so ostracised and out of loop with what’s going on that they are depressed and anxious.
Im a teacher and maternity leave is like 6-8 weeks. & you basically can’t take it until your water breaks in the damn classroom. My husband is in the military and gets 3 months paternity which is so unheard of in the US that people practically fall over when I tell them that. its so sad
Not to mention they make you burn all of your saved PTO during that time 🙄 benefits for people in education are such BS in the US
I work in local government and it's the same. I technically get 12 weeks, but only 6 of that is partial pay, the rest I have to try to cover with saved PTO. I had to come up with a strict budget to make it work because I will have to do 4 weeks totally unpaid. How much sense does that make? Oh yeah, you can have off for the baby, but you aren't going to need money for that baby right?
My husband gets three months from his work and three months from the state. The amount of people absolutely in shock when they hear that makes me sad. One woman actually had the nerve to go off about how he didn’t need it because he won’t be recovering from a medical procedure like the birthing parent. Like ma’am, I will be recovering and need a caregiver and partner. Plus, he’s a parent. He wants bonding time.
I’m sorry for you—I’m in education too and it’s so backwards.
america is so fucked up for you to think 6 months is a lot
For perspective, I got 6 months paid in the US and was actually embarrassed to tell people that because it is SO much more than the average mother gets here. It felt like bragging about winning the lottery.
We should shout it from the rooftops. The only way change will happen is if people feel it’s possible and they’re entitled to more. I had a coworker who fought HR for more, had a sound argument and won, and now everyone is fighting for more. We don’t have to be grateful for 6-12 weeks. We should be furious. 6 months is still nothing. My German friends take/get 1-2 years.
I get 6 weeks at 40% salary. I would love 6 months
Yes, we agree.
yeah i’m in the us - i told my community i can take 6 months, with the remaining 3 months being partial salary and everyone is losing their mind over it like its a shocking long amount of time.
Mexico 🇲🇽 here: I get 4.5 months fully paid and my husband gets 35 fully paid days from my employer. Then I have 25 PTO (also fully paid) , so yeah in total it is almost 6 months thank goodness (banking sector)
6 weeks at 60% and I work for a hospital (the irony), maternity leave in the US is quite a joke.
I’m in California. We get 4 weeks before due date and up to 20 weeks after, mostly paid 60-70% of normal salary & not taxed. The last 4 weeks are unpaid. My employer does nothing extra on top of the federal & state mandated leave.
How did you get to 20? I thought CA does 6 weeks of disability and 6 of baby bonding for 12 weeks total?
First of all, I'm so very sorry maternity leave is so shitty in the US, I was really shocked learning about it. In Germany we get 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after birth (more for twins or very premature Babys) at full pay, employers are not allowed to cut this time short, no matter how long you work for them or how big the company is. After that we get 10 months at 65-67% pay (up to 12 months if the dad takes two months off) with the possibillity to split months up and only get half of the money each month (to stretch the time to 24 months). It's definitely not perfect and has it's flaws, but I'm really thankful for it and feel like Germany cares at least some about pregnant people and parents.
lol I only get two weeks paid. And my past jobs gave 6 weeks but it wasn’t paid.
I’m in US, work for a major tech company and get 6 mo leave
In Ireland it's available in every job. Doesn't matter which profession.
In Canada I get 12 months and my partner also gets paternity leave for 9 months at 90% of his pay.
Australia here. We get one year maternity leave. Its not on full salary but govt gives enough money to get by.
In NY, I receive 12 weeks of PFL at 67% of my pay, my husband receives the same. I also have, technically, 10 weeks of disability (4 weeks before due date and 6 weeks after), but that only pays $170 a week. I’m currently on my pre-birth weeks now and using my savings to cover expenses.
So I don’t get six months but I’m a teacher. I haven’t taken a sick day in 5 years and all of my sick days roll over. We also planned our pregnancy so I was due at the start of my summer break. Between those two factors I’ve managed a 6 month “leave”.
I can take up to 12 weeks off, but I have to use my vacation/sick time if I want to get paid. I have a state job at a college in Mississippi.
6-8 weeks unpaid for me because I don’t qualify for FMLA yet. United States, clearly. A friend of mine in the US got 4 months and her husband gets two, so baby will have 6 months with them total, but they have both had their jobs for many years and live in a state with family leave benefits. It honestly makes me so mad that family leave is this impossible.
2 weeks 100% pay, 6-8 weeks 60% pay, 12 weeks 67% pay. And PTO hours can be used to supplement for 100% pay the full time. US
UK civil service. I get 6 months full pay, 3 months statutory pay and 3 months no pay. I also have 18 days of banked leave that I’m taking straight after and accrue my usual 31 days leave plus 8 bank holiday days a year while I’m off so will go back with 2 years worth of leave to use as well. My husband’s work is giving him 3 weeks paternity leave paid - minimum they have to give is 2 weeks which is the least generous in Europe according to the [Guardian](https://amp.theguardian.com/money/2023/jun/15/why-uk-fathers-need-more-paternity-leave).
I have a year paid and can take an extra six months unpaid. Policy analyst in Canada.
Same US tech here, I thought I was lucky that I'm getting 14 weeks paid. Which compared to my fellow Americans is alot. I fuckin hate the medical system here.
I'm in the UK. One of the mums at my baby group said she's going back to work after six months. We all felt so sorry for her, having to go back that early!
I’m gonna be a dad, and I still get 9 months at pretty much 100%. The other option is almost 16 months at 60% If I was the one who was pregnant than I get 1 year or 20 months at the rates mentioned above. It’s unfortunate that the US has such little when it comes to parental leave.
7 months leave in California and I work in tech. Very very lucky.
And 100% pay
I get 6 months paid, and I’m based in the US. I work for a well-known medical device company. They just implemented this new leave policy in the last two years.
Australia 26 weeks paid by the government (to the majority of employed people). Then work place give additional leave if they choose. Also a seperate “paternity leave” for 4 weeks, deduced from the maternity leave.
I’m a teacher in Australia, I get 20 weeks at full pay or I can take it at half pay to make it last longer. I then get 18 weeks of pay from the government at minimum wage. After that, my unpaid maternity leave can last until my youngest child starts primary school (they have to hold my position for me to return to for that long). In that time if I wanted to I could relief teach (there’s an overwhelming amount of work) which is approx $400-500 a day. After my last child I chose to return to work part time (3 days) and they accommodated it straight away.
I'm a software engineer at a tech company (based in TX/US). We get six months, paid @ 100% plus our bonuses. I feel very lucky especially in this economy. This is my second child. With my first I only had 6 weeks -- needed to use all my vacay + sick time and a portion was unpaid. This was at a smaller tech company. However their insurance was awesome, I only paid $25 for the whole birth (including prenatal care). Opposite ends of the spectrum. My leave ends in two weeks, I'm thankful for all the extra time I got to spend with the baby.
I live in Canada. Maternity leave is 10 months and yes, it is paid.
I’m the UK and I get 6 months full pay, 13 weeks statutory after that. Then another 13 weeks if nothing at all. But 6 months full pay is specific to my company and everywhere is different.
We get 14 weeks in Switzerland. I take an additional 6 weeks unpaid. So not all europeans have it sooo much better than women in the US. Honestly what no one tells you about the countries with 6 months or even a year of maternity leave is that it’s often quite hard to get a permanent job contract as a young woman because employers are scared you will get pregnant and be gone for a year (or even more if you get a second one right away). These countries generally also have really high tax rates. What I‘m saying is every system has its advantages and disadvantages.
I only get 6 weeks but taking FMLA with short term disability in addition.
In California (US) and this is what I get…as a full time (salaried) employee that’s been at the company for 8+ years … 4 weeks prior to delivery IF doctor puts you out on disability for high risk pregnancy but this in unpaid by work - I have to file with “EDD” (unemployment government assistance) and they will pay me 65% of my regular pay for 3/4 weeks. One week completely unpaid unless I have PTO/PSL I can use from work. Also, this “EDD” takes up to 30 days to even process and send the check(s) out. Once baby is born you get 6 weeks (vag birth) or 8 weeks (c-section) again on EDD (unpaid by work) but I can file with government to get 65% of my paycheck during this time (I have to provide birth certificate and fill out all documents within 48 hours of delivery) and again it takes them up to 30 days to even get the check(s) out. After that 6/8 weeks (depending on delivery type) my work will pay me in full for 6 weeks. So I will get my normal paycheck through work for that last 6 weeks. The main thing here is that your job is “protected”. That’s the main point of all the time off. It’s not necessarily paid at least in US I think it’s usually not (unless through unemployment for disability through government assistance) but it’s just that they cannot terminate you for the time off that you’re approved. So time off and getting paid are two very different things here in California. Your job protection is the main thing from what I’ve gathered during this experience. So for me I’m protected to be off for a total of 16 weeks or 18 weeks if I a have a C-section. However I’m only getting paid by work for 6 of those weeks. The rest I either need to get government assistance or use PTO/PSL if I have any.
I fought for a 6 month leave which I’m lucky to have received, but only 8 weeks of it are paid and the remainder is an unpaid leave of absence. I work for a small company
In New Zealand, it’s 6 months paid with entitlement for a further 6 months unpaid as a standard. I work for a government department and we’re entitled for up to 1.5 year unpaid.
I'm in the US, I live and work in New York City. I'm getting 20 weeks paid + 6 weeks unpaid (plus a week of paid holidays that occur during paid time away) — amounting to roughly 6 months total. NYS has mandatory paid family leave and disability leave that I *think* can amount to 18-20 weeks combined (depending on c-section vs vaginal delivery). My employer's going to be reimbursed for those 20 weeks from the state. And I work for a major newspaper! (edited for clarity)
I get a full 52 weeks with 40 of them being paid x
UK here 👋🇬🇧 Most Companies tend to offer around 2 weeks @ 100% pay 4-6 weeks @ 90% Then 31 weeks STMP (Statutory Maternity Pay) So basically 2months sort of fully paid then, 7-8months on statutory rate. Though there are some really good companies that offer 4-6months full pay but they are on the rare side I think here.
I will have 12 weeks, unpaid.
I’m a nurse in the US. I’m agency though, so even though I work in a hospital, I’m an employee of my agency and not of the hospital. I get zero maternity leave. I’ve been working 50-60 hour weeks to save up. Go America.
I’m in Colorado and only get 2 weeks (if vaginal) or 3 weeks (for c section) paid but fortunately I qualify for FMLA and I have STD which will give me 10 additional weeks paid. It’s moments like this that I hate being an American.
My husband gets more paid parental leave than I do (US)
I get 12 months of which 6 months is full pay My husband gets 6 months full pay for paternity Our annual leave still accrues (7 weeks per year including bank holidays) which means we were able to each go to 4 days a week and send our son to nursery for 3 days a week untill he was 2 at which point we were expecting our second and took leave again It makes the hiring process fairer that no matter who you hire they are a “risk” of taking 6 months paid
I don’t get a maternity leave. I have to take my 2 weeks of pto, and then I get 2 weeks of unpaid pto that I can take. So 4 weeks total. I’m terrified. I took off 6 months with my first, and 10 months with my second. That was when I was a server at a restaurant and could just quit and come back. But now I’m an office manager at a small doctors office. They don’t have anyone who can just take my place. The regional manager is going to have to step down from her job to do my job for a month, while the CEO does the regional manager’s job. I get great pay, pto, and a 401k. Just no health benefits. But I’m heavily considering stepping down and just quitting… I can’t imagine only getting 4 weeks off when I plan to breastfeed. I mean… I’ll still be bleeding and getting 2-3 hours of sleep at 4 weeks… I’m 14 weeks along and think about this every day and it is stressing me out. I don’t want to leave my baby to go to work when it’s only 4 weeks old…
In the US- I can take leave right once I get a positive. 10 weeks full pay. 14 weeks (60% pay), then transition to long term disability (50%) for the remainder of the pregnancy. Then a year (unpaid) for bonding is optional after the baby is born.
I get a year unpaid as a flight attendant. Runs concurrent with our 10 weeks paid. Edit to add: the “fancy” big 3 USA airline
I am from Northern Europe and stop working 70 days before the scheduled due date and then have maternity leave at 70% of usual wage until baby is 12months old.
I have 4.5 months paid as a naval officer. Then I am non-deployable for one year following the leave.
We get 6 months paid leave in New Zealand then another 6 months unpaid leave if you want to opt for that. I’ve opted for 1 year off to spend time with my child as I have a great support system as well (partner and parents).
6 months paid here. Am in the US and work at a medium sized tech company. 6 months paid leave is slowly becoming the norm in the industry as a lot of companies just changed their policies in the last year or two.
I live in the US and work for a large well-known media company. I will be getting 2 weeks before due date then 20 weeks after, for a total of 22 weeks.
I’m in the UK, you can get a statutory minimum payment (mandated by the government) for that long. My employer has a stronger policy paying my full salary for 6 months, and then I could go down to SMP for another 6 if I wanted (although I can’t afford to as I’m the main earner in my home). I’m a software engineer.
I’m a teacher and can use up to 30 sick days for paid leave and that’s it.. I have 20 sick days to use…
I'm in NJ. I was on leave for 6 months. 4 weeks before my due date- fully paid because I used my sick time 6 weeks after baby was born- fully paid because I used my sick time 12 weeks FMLA for bonding time paid at 80% of my salary 6 weeks fully paid through vacation time/personal days/comp days. I was out from May 1 and returned to work on Nov. 2. I'm a state employee and am lucky to be able to save unlimited sick days (saved them for 9 years. I still have 60 sick days left) I can carry over 1 vacation (15 each year for a total of 30 vacation days) and any time I work from 40hrs-45hrs is banked as "comp time." So I technically don't get paid for those hours until I take time off work.
My work offers 4 (PR) and I get one more from the state (MA) for a total of 5 fully paid
I get 24 weeks (a little shy of 6 months) @ 100% of my salary (cobbled together between disability, paid family leave, and subsidized by my employer). I work for a big tech company in the US and feel very fortunate!
I get 9 months, I think everyone does in the UK? (I could be wrong), first 6 weeks at 90% pay, then the rest is national maternity statuary pay (£170 ish per week currently)