When I was pregnant with Pooky, I was a lurker on various online pregnancy message boards. I remember the topic of maternity leave popping up a few times on these boards, and I remember women from Canada and the U.K. posting about the amount of maternity leave and benefits they receive in their countries. I knew the U.S. was definitely not family-friendly when it came to maternity and paternity leave, but after reading some of those posts, I was shocked that other countries have it a lot better.
Here’s how the U.S. compares. Percentages represent the percentage of the person’s wages paid, if any.
| Country | Maternity Leave | Paternity Leave |
| United States | 12 weeks unpaid | 12 weeks unpaid |
| Canada | 50 weeks paid at 55% up to $413/week (15 weeks maternity + 35 weeks parental leave shared with father) | 35 weeks paid at 55% up to $413/week (shared with mother) |
| United Kingdom | 6 weeks paid at 90%, 20 weeks paid at a fixed amount, 26 weeks unpaid, 13 weeks add’l unpaid w/1+ yr employment and child under 6 | 2 weeks paid at a fixed amount, 13 weeks add’l unpaid w/1+ yr employment and child under 6 |
| Sweden | 480 days (16 months) (paid at 80% up to a ceiling the first 390 days, 90 days at fixed amount) – shared with father (minimum 60 days) | 480 days (16 months) (paid at 80% up to a ceiling the first 390 days, 90 days at fixed amount) – shared with father (minimum 60 days) |
| Norway | 12 months paid at 80% or 10 months paid at 100% – mother must take first 6 weeks after birth – the rest can be shared with the father | 10.5 months paid at 80% or 8.5 months paid at 100% – shared with mother – father must take a minimum of 4 weeks |
(source: Wikipedia)
What’s up with this?! Hmm, Canada isn’t too far away.
You can find info for a whole lot of other countries at this Wikipedia entry.
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