Parental Leave: Paid parental leave should be equal and for both parents once a child is bornRecently women's rights and women's equality in the workplace have come back into focus as a topic of discussion in government agencies and the United Nations. While this is a very important topic, when it comes to taking time off work in the event of the birth of a new baby, women in the United States have services, while men do not. The Family and Medical Aid Act (FLMA), of 1993, provides for 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain specified events (8). While one might speak of maternity or paternity leave if taken due to a pregnancy, this would not be entirely true. Where maternity and paternity leave is offered around the world, it is separate from any other leave for medical or family reasons. Leave in the United States provided through the FLMA is also, as mentioned, unpaid. This creates a number of problems for the prospective family as, regardless of whether their job is secure for the time taken away, without the income it may be more difficult to care for the new baby as an unpaid pair of parents, rather than a parent who does not take care of him. leave, or not take leave and rely on relatives to care for the child as much as possible. Figure 1 shows the top countries in the world for maternity leave, with all offering more than 50 weeks, and Serbia and Denmark offering 100% of salary. In other countries both the amount of time and percentage of salary differ, but as Amanda Peterson Beadle points out in her article for the ThinkProgress website, "Out of 178 nations, the United States is one of three that does not offer paid maternity benefits, not to mention paid leave for fathers. (6)Figure 1 – Top four countries for paid maternity leave l...... middle of document ......erview), 2013, WebsiteHensegard, Jens, For Paternity Leave, Sweden Asks if Two Months Is Enough, WSJ (Wall Street Journal), July 31, 2012, print(5) Maltais, Michelle, maternity leave in America: where do we stand? (http://articles.latimes.com /2014/jan/16/news/la-sh-maternity-leave-benefit-20140115), Los Angeles Times, 2014, Website(6) Peterson Beadle, Amanda, How the Zero Weeks of Paid Maternity Leave in the United States Compare globally (thinkprogress.org/health/2012/05/24/489973/paid-maternity-leave-us/), ThinkProgress, 2012, Website (7) The Telegraph, Maternity Leave is a burden for many women ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/9602859/Maternity-leave-is-a-burden-for-many-women-says-thinktank-director.html), 2012, website ( 8) US Dept of Labor, Family and Medical Leave Act – Wage and Hour Division (WHD) (http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/), 2013, website