Provide maternity pay to pregnant women and their spouse post birth for a substantial time period

The US has no mandatory maternity pay for new mothers and their families. Some states offer paid family leave once medical recovery time is over, providing you meet certain job requirements, but this is a very limited amount of time and for many, not a livable income. There are countries that give new mothers a good amount of their income for six months and sometimes even a whole year. In comparison: California, one of the most advanced US states in this respect, offers a total of four weeks paid disability before birth, six weeks after, and six additional weeks of paid family leave to those who qualify, all paid at barely over half of your regular income. Twelve weeks is not long in the life of a newborn, and new parents deserve to be able to take more time to bond with their child.