The U.S. is one of the few high-income countries that does not uniformly offer paid parental leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees only 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected time off for both parents of a newborn or newly adopted child. The federal law applies only to people who work at companies with at least 50 employees. And even if time off is permitted, most new parents can’t afford to give up a steady income for three months. A study done at the University of California looked at men's and women's brains both before and after having and spending time with their children. The results point to the benefits of paternity and maternity leave on the brain. Read more at the link in our bio.