All children deserve to have their mothers or fathers home to care for them for at least the first 6 months if not 1-2 years of their lives. The United States is the only industrialized nation to not offer paid maternity or parental leave to its citizens. Around the world, this leave ranges anywhere from 84 days (India, Mexico) to 280 days (UK). So, obviously this can and should be done. It is frankly embarrassing, sad and unacceptable that the US cannot provide this essential time to parents and their newborns. Currently the US offers 12 weeks of unpaid leave to mothers, not only is this not enough time, it also creates financial hardship. For more info:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/your-money/us-trails-much-of-the-world...
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