For paid maternity leave by country in 2025, you can expect the longest leave in Bulgaria at 58.6 weeks, followed by Greece at 43 and the United Kingdom at 39. If you compare both length and average pay percentage, Bulgaria leads overall, with 90% paid leave. Croatia offers 100% paid maternity leave, but for a shorter 30 weeks, while the United States remains far behind many other countries.
Maternity leave is a hot topic among employees and HR professionals worldwide. Employees want to know how much time they can take off from work while they’re pregnant and after delivery, while HR professionals must be up to speed on company policies and laws to ensure compliance.
Maternity leave varies from one country to the next, so even if your company is headquartered in the United States, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can rely on the same policy company-wide.
Which countries have the longest maternity leave?
While the United States is far behind regarding maternity leave, many other countries have taken the opposite approach. Here are the countries with the longest maternity leave:
What are global maternity pay percentages?
While the overall length of paid maternity leave is important, the critical word is “paid.” Not all of these countries provide 100 percent paid leave. Here are the maternity leave average pay percentages for the countries listed above:
Taking both lists into consideration shows that Bulgaria is the world leader in maternity leave. In addition to 58.60 weeks off, employees are also paid 90 percent of their salary.
What countries don’t have maternity leave?
Besides the United States, only six other countries in the world don’t guarantee any paid family leave to mothers. They include:
- Papua New Guinea
- Micronesia
- The Marshall Islands
- Nauru
- Palau
- Tonga
The United States is the only country among the OECD’s member nations that does not have a national paid family leave policy.
Maternity leave in the United States
The United States is the only first-world country without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level. Only a small number of other countries—all of which are considered low or middle-income—offer no guaranteed leave.
However, the United States does have The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This provides certain employees—including those who are pregnant or caring for a newborn child—the option to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.
The primary issue with FMLA is that it only applies to employees at certain companies, such as those with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year.
Note: Nine states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington—and the District of Columbia currently offer paid family and medical leave.
Maternity leave in other countries
Canada: 15 weeks at 55% pay (with cap)
Germany: 14 weeks at 100% pay
India: 26 weeks at 100% pay
France: 16 weeks at 90% pay (with cap)
Sweden: 480 days of shared parental leave per child, paid at 80% (with cap)
Italy: 21.7 weeks at 80% pay
Mexico: 12 weeks at 100% pay
Norway: 49 weeks at 100% pay or 59 weeks at 80% pay shared parental leave (with cap)
Australia: 26 weeks paid at the national minimum wage
Percentages listed are average and subject to change or individual situation.
Do many companies have their own maternity policies?
While there’s no requirement for individual companies to implement and maintain a maternity policy in the United States, many of them do so. Offering maternity leave allows these companies to attract and retain top talent, not to mention the fact that it can do wonders for the culture of the workplace.
Here’s a list of 10 companies in the United States that are known for their generous maternity leave policies.
And outside of the United States, statutory benefits in many countries often act as a financial floor, while top global employers offer company paid top-ups to remain competitive.
Final thoughts
As an HR professional, keeping up with all these maternity leave laws is a giant task. This is especially true if you have team members in many parts of the world.
Fortunately, you don’t have to rely on luck to get things right. At Oyster, we have the tools you need to track and manage maternity leave across your organization.
Employment regulations change frequently; this content is intended solely for general guidance and does not replace or constitute personalized legal advice.
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