The only-in-America (and Lesotho, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea) parental leave policy

How embarrassing is this?

As Kaili Joy Gray wrote about this situation:

For a country that boasts of being No. 1!, we are actually at the bottom. The extent of our family leave policy is the pitiful and toothless Family Medical Leave Act, full of restrictions and conditions, which merely allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. What that really means is that unless an employer has opted to provide paid leave for its employees, a family can only take advantage of the allotted 12 weeks if that family can afford to go without pay for three months. The reality is that FMLA is a privilege, not a right, for those who are wealthy enough to be able to use it.

What's more, 40 percent of the American workforce isn't even covered by the FMLA. And parental and other family leave isn't the only way the United States lags behind the rest of the world, as we'll see below the fold.