User:KivaElk/sandbox

Foreign comparison
The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not offer paid parental leave. Of countries in the United Nations only the United States, Suriname, Papua New Guinea, and a few island countries in the Pacific Ocean do not require employers to provide paid time off for new parents. A study of 168 countries found that 163 guarantee paid leave to women, and 45 guarantee paid paternity leave.

The United States maternity leave policy is distinct for its relative scarcity of benefits in comparison to other industrialized countries. Thus, the legislation imposes relatively few restrictions on American firms and instead underscores employer discretion in the shaping of maternity leave policy. These firms are thus free to offer maternity leave policies on terms that are more aligned with ccorporate interests. This United States policy differs greatly from most other western countries in terms of maternity leave provision. These stark maternity leave differentials are demonstrated in both the policy's length and compensation. In terms of the length of protected maternity leave, the United States currently ranks 20th out of the 21 highest-income countries. The United States is one of three countries, along with Oman and Papua New Guinea, that does not offer paid maternity leave. Countries that offer paid maternity leave include Mexico (12 weeks), United Kingdom (40 weeks), India (26 weeks), Chile (24 weeks), Canada (1 year), and China (14 weeks). Although the United States does not guarantee paid maternity leave, employers may provide paid leave if they choose. There are three states in the United States that do provide paid maternity leave and they are California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The United States maternity leave policy is unique for its limited benefits when compared to other industrialized countries. Thus, the legislation imposes relatively few restrictions on American firms and instead underscores employer discretion in the shaping of maternity leave policy. These firms are thus free to offer maternity leave policies on terms that are more aligned with corporate interests.[9] This United States policy differs greatly from most other western countries in terms of maternity leave provision.

In the United States like other nations, child care is not always equally shared between mothers and fathers. In united states, fathers can have some paid leaves if they live in California or other states with similar legislation (partial paid leave). In contrast, Slovenian fathers have 12 weeks of 100% paid paternity leave. In Sweden, 480 days of 80% paid paternity leave weeks. In Norway, 49 weeks of 100% paid paternity leave weeks or 59 weeks of 80% paid paternity leave. Finnish fathers have 11 partial paid leave weeks.

Policies by States:
Beyond the basic rights afforded mothers by FMLA additional aspects of maternity leave have been left to the discretion of state legislation. Many states have supplemented these federal regulations and provided more extensive maternity leave benefits, including expanding paid or flexible sick time, expanding access for workers in smaller companies or with less time on the job, right to pump that expands on federal law, and pregnancy accommodations.

As of 2016, 12 states have enacted no additional laws or programs to support family leave before or after birth. Fourteen states, along with the District of Columbia, have addressed eligibility requirements by lowering the firm-size threshold from 50 or more employees down to as low as 10 employees. Seven other states, in addition to the District of Columbia, have adopted more generous maternity leave lengths that allow longer absences for the purpose of child rearing. Moreover, some states have enacted legislation enhancing the benefits of leave programs. Despite this as of March 2017, only 15% of private and public employees had access to paid family leave. California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, for instance, operate programs that require private-sector employers to pay their employees who utilize maternity leave at partial replacement rates. New York passed paid family leave legislation, which includes maternity leave, in 2016 — starting off at 8 weeks and 50% of pay in 2018, and reaching 12 weeks and 67% of pay in 2021. Washington state passed a paid family leave bill in 2007, but it lacked a funding mechanism and has not yet gone into effect. Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia designate childbirth as a temporary disability thus guaranteeing mothers paid maternity leave through Disability Insurance (TDI) provisions.

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Table Showing Laws by State =====

[PEER REVIEW COMMENTS BY LAYLA ELQUTAMI

'''From what I can gleam from the content in your sandbox, the main point on which you are focusing as it relates to the edits on your selected article is foreign policy on maternity leave and the United States’s own varied policies as it varies state by state. It seems to me that you want to contrast the foreign and domestic policies simply by having them side by side, but perhaps one could provide a little blurb or some sort to emphasize the United State’s uniqueness in not having as well-implemented a maternity leave program/funding/etc. There is a brief statement on this in the lead/introductory section, but I do find that it is awkward there, especially as the last few sentences in the lead, and that it could be better placed within the section you are proposing to amend.'''

'''Furthermore, it appears that you have listed much of many individual state’s policies on maternity leave. I don’t know your whole intention with all this listed information, but my recommendation would be to not amalgamate all these policies. Keep them separate; make them into a well-organized, alphabetized list (maybe even a table?). I think that without clear subsections then the valuable wealth of information you have displayed in your sandbox would be very overwhelming to take in and even conceptualize in thought. I think the subsection(s) would also benefit from bulleted fact points instead of paragraph structure (again, maybe a table?) Further organization would also be good when considering that lots of people use Wikipedia to look for a specific piece of knowledge; if one had to sift through sentences to look for figures and policy, it could be an ineffective Wiki page.'''

'''Other than what’s been stated previously, I think you are great! I am really impressed with the improvements you are making. When one considers the WIkipedia page as it is now as a whole, it is almost surprising that they don’t include something like what you’re proposing, so this is wonderful. I would say to just continue on the track you are on with those few structural changes, maybe cut back on/tighten the great amount of information you have, and then you’re golden. Great work!]'''