10 countries that show just how behind the US is in paid parental leave for new mothers and fathers

New dads in Iceland get at least five months of paternity leave.Ekaterina Shtern/Shutterstock

• Besides Papua New Guinea, the US is the only country in the world that has no national policy guaranteeing leave for new mothers. Of the world's richest 41 countries, the US is one of 15 that does not offer any paternity leave.
• In the US, that burden is placed on individual states and employers.
• Other countries like Finland, Iceland, and Estonia, however, offer dozens of weeks for mothers, and in some cases, for fathers, too.
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The US does plenty of things well, but providing new parents with paid time off isn't one of them.

Out of the world's 196 countries, the US and Papua New Guinea are the only ones that have no federally mandated policy to give new mothers paid time off. And of the world's richest 41 countries, the US is one of only 15 that does not offer any paternity leave, according to a 2019 Unicef report. That burden is placed on individual states and employers.

President Trump has made strides by calling on Congress to pass paid parental leave in his recent State of the Union, and by signing a measure that grants federal employees 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Still, the country, in 2020, has no guaranteed paid parental leave, despite the majority of Americans supporting it.

If you're thinking of starting a family, here are some places that prioritize parents and give them generous paid leave (at least in comparison to the US).