For people outside of the US, FMLA is up to three months of unpaid leave where you get the privilege of getting to keep your job and your benefits (though you continue to pay for them while not being paid).

For many American women, this is all they have access to for maternity leave. So they power through those three months then have to scrap together the cash to put their 4 month old in day care ($15 to $20k annually) while not getting paid for the quarter of the year.

Around 40 to 45% of women in the US don’t even qualify for FMLA because your employer needs to be large (50+ employees) enough and you need to have worked for them long enough to qualify (usually a year).

Blue states fill the gap with their own state run programs (still usually only three months, though you get some pay) but if you’re in a red state the choice for many women is 1) have children and enter financial ruin or 2) don’t have children.

America lags behind most advanced economies in this regard and there isn’t any sign these circumstances will get better.