The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee some sort of paid parental leave for its citizens. Most countries ensure at least three months paid leave. In fact, the US is one of only several countries in the entire world that does not offer paid maternal and/or parental leave. (The other countries that also do not offer paid leave are Lesotho, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea.)
Paid parental leave allows new families to embark on the journey of parenthood without having to worry about incurring significant financial stress or losing one's job to take time off to raise a child. Paid leave has been shown to improve overall employee satisfaction and saves employers money by eliminating the costs of hiring and training new employees.