The number of companies offering paid family leave is actually decreasing – a lot

The United States of America is the only developed country in the world that does not guarantee paid family leave to its citizens. To make matters worse, companies are actually offering less paid time off to new parents than they did 11 years ago.

Only one in 10 American companies offered paid leave in 2016, compared to one in six in 2005.

In addition to fewer companies offering paid time off, they’re offering less time, as well: The average maximum compensated time off was 14.5 weeks in 2016, down from 15.2 in 2005.

These statistics come from a new study from the Society for Human Resource Management and Families and Work Institute, in which analysts studied policies from 920 U.S.-based companies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIhKAQX5izw?feature=oembed

Of the employers that do offer paid leave, about 78 percent of plans are made through disability insurance, which only women who have just given birth can claim.

Fathers and people who became parents through surrogate use or adoption are out of luck.

In the Trump administration, Ivanka Trump’s plan to allow Americans to deduct childcare expenses from their taxes has drawn criticism for excluding poor, working-class families and non-biological parents.

And even if those pieces of legislation do become law, the U.S. will still be miles behind the rest of the world.