Parental leave statistics reveal a sharp difference between having time away from work available and having that time paid. In March 2023, 27% of U.S. civilian workers had access to paid family leave, while 90% had access to unpaid family leave. Across OECD countries, mothers had an average of 54.9 weeks of total paid leave available in the comparison published in April 2025, while fathers had an average of 13.4 weeks earmarked specifically for them.
Contents
- U.S. paid and unpaid family leave
- Paid leave available to mothers
- Parental and home-care leave
- Leave reserved for fathers
- Payment rates and full-rate equivalents
- OECD averages and public spending
U.S. paid and unpaid family leave
The latest U.S. figures in this set come from March 2023 and cover civilian workers. Paid family leave was available to 27% of workers, compared with unpaid family leave for 90%. These measures describe access to a benefit, not whether every eligible worker used it or the amount of income replaced.
The long-term comparison shows a larger increase in paid access than in unpaid access. In March 2008, 9% of U.S. civilian workers had access to paid family leave, and 85% had access to unpaid family leave. By March 2023, the corresponding figures were 27% and 90%.
| U.S. civilian workers | Paid family leave | Unpaid family leave |
|---|---|---|
| March 2008 | 9% | 85% |
| March 2023 | 27% | 90% |
Earlier BLS reference points use different worker and establishment groupings, so they should not be treated as a single continuous series with the March 2008 and March 2023 figures. In 1988, among full-time workers in medium and large establishments, 2% had paid maternity leave available and 33% had unpaid maternity leave available. Paid paternity leave was available to 1%, while unpaid paternity leave was available to 16%.
Small private-industry establishments recorded 2% paid family-leave access and 47% unpaid access in 1994. In 2005, the same type of establishment recorded 6% paid access and 71% unpaid access. In medium and large private-industry establishments, paid family-leave access was 10% and unpaid access was 93% in 2007. State and local government workers recorded 15% paid access and 93% unpaid access that year. These historical figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which presents the relevant scope and reference periods in “What data does the BLS publish on family leave?”.
Paid leave available to mothers
The OECD comparison published in April 2025 measures total paid leave available to mothers, the average payment rate, and the equivalent number of weeks paid at the full rate. The full-rate-equivalent measure helps distinguish a long leave paid at a low rate from a shorter leave paid more generously.
Austria provided 60 weeks at an average payment rate of 77.5%, equal to 46.5 full-rate weeks. Germany provided 58 weeks at 65.9%, equal to 38.2 full-rate weeks. Japan also provided 58 weeks, with a 62.5% average payment rate and 36.3 full-rate weeks.
Canada provided 51 weeks at 39.4%, equal to 20.1 full-rate weeks. Chile provided 30 weeks at a 100% average payment rate, equal to 30.0 full-rate weeks. The United Kingdom provided 39 weeks at 29.9%, equal to 11.7 full-rate weeks.
Finland’s total was 161 weeks, the longest duration among the countries listed here, but its average payment rate was 24.7%, producing 39.7 full-rate weeks. Korea provided 90.9 weeks at 52.4%, equal to 47.6 full-rate weeks. Norway provided 86 weeks at 45.6%, equal to 39.3 full-rate weeks.
The United States had 0 weeks of nationally statutory paid leave available to mothers in this OECD comparison. That figure describes national statutory paid leave in the April 2025 comparison; it does not erase the separate BLS finding that some U.S. civilian workers had access to paid family leave through employment arrangements.
Parental and home-care leave
Paid parental and home-care leave adds another dimension to the comparison because it can extend beyond leave connected directly with childbirth. The OECD data report both total weeks and average payment rates for mothers.
Hungary and Czechia each provided 136 weeks. Hungary’s average payment rate was 38.1%, equal to 51.9 full-rate weeks; Czechia’s was 24.3%, equal to 33.1 full-rate weeks. The Slovak Republic provided 130 weeks at 31.2%, equal to 40.6 full-rate weeks.
Latvia provided 78 weeks at 39.9%, equal to 31.1 full-rate weeks. Lithuania provided 61.7 weeks at 62.5%, equal to 38.5 full-rate weeks. Sweden provided 42.9 weeks at 56.9%, equal to 24.4 full-rate weeks.
Shorter durations could still produce substantial full-rate equivalents when payment rates were higher. Portugal provided 24.1 weeks at 67.7%, equal to 16.3 full-rate weeks. Poland provided 32 weeks at 63.4%, equal to 20.3 full-rate weeks. Australia provided 18 weeks at 45.9%, equal to 8.3 full-rate weeks.
| Country | Paid weeks available to mothers | Average payment rate | Full-rate-equivalent weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hungary | 136 | 38.1% | 51.9 |
| Czechia | 136 | 24.3% | 33.1 |
| Lithuania | 61.7 | 62.5% | 38.5 |
| Portugal | 24.1 | 67.7% | 16.3 |
| Australia | 18 | 45.9% | 8.3 |
These figures are entitlements and payment-rate estimates in the OECD Family Database’s April 2025 comparison. They should not be read as take-up rates, average time actually taken, or an identical cash amount across countries. The source is the OECD Family Database, PF2.1 Parental leave systems.
Leave reserved for fathers
Father-specific leave varies considerably in both duration and generosity. In the April 2025 OECD comparison, Japan provided fathers 52 weeks at a 60.7% average payment rate, equal to 31.6 full-rate weeks. Korea provided 82 weeks at 50.1%, equal to 41.0 full-rate weeks.
Among other countries with longer father-specific totals, France provided 30.2 weeks at 25.6%, equal to 7.7 full-rate weeks. Luxembourg provided 28 weeks at 73.1%, equal to 20.5 full-rate weeks. Portugal provided 22.3 weeks at 65.0%, equal to 14.5 full-rate weeks. Iceland provided 20 weeks at 80%, equal to 16.0 full-rate weeks.
Belgium provided 21.3 weeks at 31.9%, equal to 6.8 full-rate weeks. Finland provided 16.2 weeks at 66.6%, equal to 10.8 full-rate weeks. Norway provided 15 weeks at 97.4%, equal to 14.6 full-rate weeks. The United States provided 0 weeks of nationally statutory paid father-specific leave in this OECD comparison.
The OECD’s April 2024 overview adds a policy-count perspective: 35 of 38 OECD countries provided paid leave for fathers through paid paternity leave or paid parental leave earmarked for fathers. Twenty countries provided both forms, 10 provided only paid paternity leave, and 5 provided only paid parental leave. These counts concern the presence of leave types, not how many fathers used them. They are reported in Paid leave for fathers.
Payment rates and full-rate equivalents
Payment rates change the practical meaning of a week of leave. Spain provided fathers 16 weeks of paid paternity leave at a 100% average payment rate, equal to 16.0 full-rate weeks. France provided 4.2 weeks at 100%, equal to 4.2 full-rate weeks, while Italy provided 2 weeks at 100%, equal to 2.0 full-rate weeks.
The Netherlands provided 6 weeks at an 83.7% average payment rate, equal to 5.0 full-rate weeks. Belgium provided 4 weeks at 81.5%, equal to 3.3 full-rate weeks. Sweden provided 1.4 weeks at 63.7%, equal to 0.9 full-rate weeks. Ireland provided 2 weeks at 23.4%, equal to 0.5 full-rate weeks.
Across the OECD, average paid paternity leave was 2.5 weeks in full-rate-equivalent terms. Father-specific parental and home-care leave averaged 10.9 full-rate-equivalent weeks. These are different leave categories, so the figures should not be added together without knowing the rules in each country.
OECD averages and public spending
The April 2025 OECD comparison gives three useful benchmarks for mothers. Across OECD countries, mothers were entitled to an average of 18.4 weeks of paid maternity leave around childbirth. They had an average of 36.6 weeks of paid parental and home-care leave available to them, or 54.9 weeks of total paid leave when those categories were combined.
Fathers had an average of 13.4 weeks of total paid leave earmarked specifically for them. This average is a duration benchmark, while the country examples above show why payment rates and full-rate equivalents are also important.
Public spending varied widely in 2021. OECD spending on maternity and parental leave ranged from USD PPP 82,347 per child born in Luxembourg to USD PPP 555 per child born in Türkiye. The OECD average was USD PPP 20,834 per child born. These values are expressed in purchasing-power-parity dollars and describe public spending per child born, not an individual family’s benefit or a direct wage replacement.
Taken together, the statistics show several separate dimensions of parental leave: whether leave is available, whether it is paid, how long it lasts, how much income it replaces, whether time is reserved for fathers, and how much governments spend. The BLS U.S. figures are employment-access measures with explicit reference periods, while the OECD figures are cross-country policy comparisons measured around April 2025, with public-spending figures for 2021.