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Without federal paid parental leave, the United States is woefully behind the rest of the world. Here is a guide to maternity leave by state.
By Acacia O'Connor Updated on February 25, 2024 In This Article In This Article
The United States excels at many things: robotics, blockbuster films, billionaires going to space, hamburgers, and Olympic gold medals, to name a few. However, the US is achingly behind the mark when it comes to paid family and sick leave. There is no federal mandate and each state has different rules for parental leave.
Read on to learn how the US compares to other countries when it comes to paid parental leave, the benefits of maternity leave, and a guide to maternity leave by state.
According to the Pew Research Center, compared to 41 other countries, the US stands alone in not mandating any paid leave for new parents. Topping the list was Estonia, with 86 weeks of paid leave. Several other countries, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Japan, Lithuania, Austria, Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, and Slovenia, also offer more than a year of paid leave.
The US was also one of just 11 countries without a paid sick leave policy at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is despite the sobering fact that the International Labor Organization (ILO) created the first global standard back in 1919, called the Maternity Protection Convention. That standard was revised in 1952 and calls for a minimum of 12 weeks paid maternity leave at a rate of at least two-thirds of previous earnings plus health benefits.
While efforts have been made to include paid leave as a federal benefit over the years, none have yet paid off. Instead, new parents must rely on employment benefits or state laws. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 23% to 27% of private industry workers have access to paid family leave as an employment benefit. When adequate leave is not provided, new parents face the decision to live off their savings or the support of other family members or go back to work earlier than is ideal for the parents and baby.
Parents probably don't need to be convinced of the individual benefit of extended paid family leave. But research shows that paid family leave has immense public benefits, too:
It also keeps more new parents in the workforce. Research has found that up to 30% of women leave the labor force when they have a child, but access to paid family leave could allow more new parents to take adequate temporary leave rather than quitting. Not only is this beneficial for those who want to stay in the workforce, but it also benefits companies to keep skilled and experienced workers.
Of course, even without a legal requirement, some employers in all 50 states still offer paid family leave, partly because it greatly improves employee retention rates.
While the US doesn't have national paid leave, according to the US Department of Labor, 13 states and the District of Columbia offer mandatory paid family and medical leave programs for eligible workers. These states are California, Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Washington, New York, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Oregon, as well as Washington, DC. Some states also offer voluntary paid parental leave programs that the employer and/or employee can choose to pay into.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees unpaid, job-protected parental leave for up to 12 weeks for most workers across the country who work at companies with over 50 employees.
The following is a chart that shows which states offer paid family and medical leave.
| Guide to Maternity Leave by State | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Coverage/Eligibility | Family Medical Leave Provisions | Provides Leave to Care for |
| Alabama | None | — | — |
| Alaska | None | — | — |
| Arkansas | None | — | — |
| Arizona | None | — | — |
| California | Employees who have worked for a base period of 5-18 months before a claim starts. | The California Paid Family Leave program provides up to 8 weeks of paid leave to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, or registered domestic partner or to bond with a new child through birth, adoption, or fostering. The benefit amount is approximately 60-70% of an employee's weekly wage. The program is funded through employee-paid payroll taxes and is administered through the state's disability program. | Child, spouse, parent, or domestic partner. |
| Colorado | FAMLI is available to Colorado workers. The program is funded through premiums that are split between the employer and employee. | Up to 12 weeks of paid leave. Benefits are calculated on a sliding scale based on an average weekly wage from the past 5 quarters. Benefits range from 50-90% of wages, with a maximum of $1,100 per week. | For a worker's own serious health condition, birth, adoption, foster placement, a family member with a serious health condition, impending or active military duty. |
| Connecticut | People who work for private, non-government employers, who earned at least $2,325 in the highest-earning quarter of the first four of the five most recently completed quarters, and who were employed at least 12 months before a benefits claim was filed. | Up to 12 weeks. | Your own serious health condition, caring for a family member, birth, adoption, foster placement, military caregiver, family violence. |
| D.C. | You are a covered employee or self-employed person who opted into the paid family leave program, and who is employed when you apply for the benefits. | Up to 14 weeks of parental and prenatal leave. Benefits are based on your weekly wages, with a maximum benefit of $1,118. | Your own serious health condition, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, birth, adoption, foster placement, prenatal care. |
| Delaware | Employees who have been employed for at least one year and have at least 1,250 hours with a single employer. | 12 weeks beginning in 2026. People may receive up to 80% of their wages at a maximum of $900 per week. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, a worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition, ongoing or active military duty. |
| Florida | None | — | — |
| Georgia | None | — | — |
| Hawaii | Disability-only. Employee must be currently employed and have at least 14 weeks where they were paid for 20 hours or more and earned at least $400 in the year preceding the first day of disability. | Up to 26 weeks with a maximum weekly benefit of $1,375. | A worker's own serious health condition. |
| Idaho | None | — | — |
| Illinois | None | — | — |
| Indiana | None | — | — |
| Iowa | None | — | — |
| Kansas | None | — | — |
| Kentucky | None | — | — |
| Louisiana | None | — | — |
| Maine | Rulemaking for the program begins in 2024. | Up to 12 weeks beginning in 2026. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition, ongoing or active military duty. |
| Maryland | People who work at least 680 hours for a Maryland employer for the 12 months before they need to take leave. | Up to 12 weeks beginning in 2026. Paid up to $1,000 per week. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition, ongoing or active military duty. |
| Massachusetts | Workers whose employers have opted into the PFML program and self-employed people who opted in with a qualifying reason for leave. | Up to 26 weeks of combined medical and family leave. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition, ongoing or active military duty. |
| Michigan | None | — | — |
| Minnesota | Most Minnesota employees who have earned more than about $3,500 in wages within the state in the year leading up to their leave. | Up to 20 weeks of medical and family leave combined starting in 2026. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition, ongoing or active military duty. |
| Mississippi | None | — | — |
| Missouri | None | — | — |
| Montana | None | — | — |
| Nebraska | None | — | — |
| Nevada | None | — | — |
| New Hampshire | None | — | — |
| New Jersey | Those who paid into the program through employment and have worked 20 weeks earning at least $283 weekly, or have earned a combined total of $14,200 in the prior four quarters. Most New Jersey workers are eligible except government workers, out-of-state workers, contractors, and faith-based organizations. | 12 weeks of family disability leave. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition. |
| New Mexico | None | — | — |
| New York | Most employees working for private employers. Those who work 20+ hours per week are eligible after 26 weeks of employment; those who work less than 20 hours per week are eligible after 175 days of employment. | Up to 26 weeks of disability and family leave combined. People may receive 67% of their average weekly wage, up to a cap of 67% of the current New York State Average Weekly Wage (NYSAWW). In 2024, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,151.16. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition, ongoing or active military duty. |
| North Carolina | None | — | — |
| North Dakota | None | — | — |
| Ohio | None | — | — |
| Oklahoma | None | — | — |
| Oregon | You are covered if you work for an Oregon employer, earned at least $1,000 in the year before applying, and you have a qualifying life event. Government workers and self-employed workers do not automatically qualify. | Up to 12 weeks per year. Minimum weekly benefits are $63 per week and maximum benefits are $1,524. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition. |
| Pennsylvania | None | — | — |
| Rhode Island | Most people who work in Rhode Island and have paid into the TDI/TCI fund, and were paid at least $11,520 in either your Base Period or an Alternate Base Period. | Up to 30 weeks combined disability and caregiver leave. Paid at 60% wage replacement. The maximum benefit rate is $795.00 per week and the minimum benefit rate is $84.00 per week. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition. |
| South Carolina | None | — | — |
| South Dakota | None | — | — |
| Tennessee | None | — | — |
| Texas | None | — | — |
| Utah | None | — | — |
| Vermont | In 2023 available to government employees; in 2024 the benefit expands to include private employees with two or more employees (voluntary); in 2025 it expands to small employers and self-employed. | Up to six weeks of paid leave at 60% of the employee's average weekly wages. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, a family member with a serious health condition, ongoing or active military duty. |
| Virginia | None | — | — |
| Washington | Nearly everyone who has worked a minimum of 820 hours (about 16 hours a week) in Washington during the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters. | Up to 16 weeks of medical and family leave combined. Receive up to 90% of your weekly pay—up to a maximum of $1,456 in 2024. | Birth, adoption, foster placement, worker's own serious health condition, family member with a serious health condition, ongoing or active military duty. |
| West Virginia | None | — | — |
| Wisconsin | None | — | — |
| Wyoming | None | — | — |
