Which Countries Offer the Most Parental Leave?

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Parental leave is a popular topic in the United States. While some states and employers offer paid leave for new mothers and fathers, there is currently no federal parental leave. The Family Medical Leave Act allows eligible employees to take 12 weeks of unpaid time off, but for many families, three months without pay is a financial hardship.

Which countries offer the most paid parental leave throughout the world? The researchers at PlaygroundEquipment.com looked at paid maternity and paternity leave numbers to see which countries offer the best benefits for new parents.

The country at the top of the list is Estonia, which offers 84.4 weeks of paid leave for new mothers. Bulgaria also ranks highly on the list at 69.7 weeks for maternity leave. In fact, European countries make up all of the top 10 on the list!

The United States is one of the only countries, and the only first-world country, that does not offer any federal paid leave for parents. It’s a policy that is currently being fought for, as studies have proven that paid family leave helps keeps mothers and fathers in the workforce and helps foster bonds between parents and children.

Which country on the list was most surprising to you?