The purpose of this research is to identify best practices and legal requirements regarding the maternity leave benefits in the United States. We consider several components of the maternity /parental benefit system, including the length, pay, flexibility, return progression, and dual spousal involvement. Firstly, we identify the legal policies of current USA federal laws for parental leave. Then, we compare the individual development of states and their elaboration on these base requirements. We review this benefit in three states: a dominantly democratic state of California, a dominantly republican state of Texas, and a historical swing state of Ohio. Our analysis demonstrates that Texas leans towards less regulation and California leans towards more regulation in the maternity/parental leave benefits.

To assess the state of maternity/parental leave benefits in the USA, we broaden our frame of reference to incorporate a more global view. We review the maternity/parental leave requirements in 2 other countries: China, and India. Finally, we take into consideration trend setting global corporations such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook, to view the extent in which the benefits can be progressed from the current federal level. Our research demonstrates the gap that exists between current federal policies and the potential elaborations of the maternity /parental benefit programs.