Child Trends has released a blog on paid family leave, finding that family leave laws in the United States lag behind those in other countries. It is embarrassing that the United States and Papua New Guinea are the only two countries in the world to not provide any income coverage during maternity, according to the report.

Wisconsin has a family leave law, but it does not include paid leave and has limited coverage.  Under state law all employers with 50 or more permanent employees must allow employees of either sex up to six (6) weeks leave in a calendar year for the birth or adoption of the employee’s child, providing the leave begins within sixteen (16) weeks of the birth or placement of that child.

With all that we know now about the importance of the first few weeks, surely the United States and Wisconsin can do better than that.

Dave Edie