Maternity Leave in the US

This is a topic that really gets under my skin.  Women work just as hard as men, yet when it comes time to start a family, the United States is one country that does not offer any kind of paid leave.  It truly is amazing to me.

Check out this awesome infographic (from HuffPost):

In the US, we have the Family & Medical Leave Act which qualifies new mom's to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave off from work with no penalty of losing their position.  More and more, individual companies have stepped up to help offer working moms paid maternity leave (usually at least 6 weeks at 80% pay - a basic short term disability claim), but for the hundreds of thousands of women who work part-time or lower wage paying positions, they simply have unpaid leave in a situation where it's already difficult to get by.  For the life of me, I cannot understand why we are so behind in these basic benefits.  The US ranks 27th out of 37 developed countries according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development - 27th!!  Countries like India and Mexico top the US in paid maternity leave & benefits.

I won't prattle on, but I am curious to hear what your thoughts are on the matter.  I am linking several articles below and I look forward to hearing from you.

Why 26% of US women still choose not to work

Best Countries for Working Moms & Dads

Maternity Leaves Around the World

Maternity Leave Benefits Around the World

More than 120 Nations Provide Paid Maternity Leave

Motherhood Around the Globe

Disclaimer: this post is purely my opinion and is not meant to offend any one in any way.  If you choose to comment on this post, please do so respectfully.