More than one in three U.S. employers are offering their employees paid maternity leave, up from one in six earlier this decade, according to a new data from the Society for Human Resource Management featured in a June 28 Bloomberg news report.
That includes the 20 biggest companies in the U.S., which now offer at least some paid maternity leave, according to SHRM. A handful of those employers also offer time off for fathers and adoptive parents.
Retaining talent is the main motivation. Nearly 70 percent of the 1,012 organizations surveyed by SHRM said increased benefit offerings were meant specifically to retain talent.
Despite the fact that paid parental leave is on the rise, only 15 percent of American workers overall have access to paid time off to care for newborns. And the number is lower for low-income workers – about 6 percent have access to paid leave.
For the full Bloomberg article, click here.