英国广播公司（BBC）曾报道说，美国是世界上唯一一个没有全国性法定带薪产假的发达国家。在联合国的193个国家中，也只有少数国家没有全国性的带薪产假法律，这其中包括巴布亚新几内亚、苏里南、一些南太平洋岛国，还有美国。
在美国，联邦法律没有明确规定妇女享受统一的带薪产假，各州会根据各自情况制定相应的产假政策。在弗吉尼亚州，妈妈们产后只能申请6-8周的病假，而且只能拿到部分薪酬，这给很多家庭造成了不小的负担。本期主人公艾瑞卡·威尔逊是两个孩子的母亲，她想通过分享自己的故事，呼吁美国尽快完善产假政策，给予女性更多的尊重和关爱。
Out of the 193 member states of the United Nations, only a handful do not have a national paid parental leave law: New Guinea, Suriname, a few South Pacific Island nations, and the United States. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reports that the U.S. is the only developed country in the world that does not have a national law on paid maternity leave. This means the federal law does not guarantee that employees will get paid time off after welcoming a child. Only some state laws and company policies are offering paid maternity leave. Therefore, many new parents have to get back to work much sooner after the birth of a baby, because they cannot afford unpaid time off.
Erica Wilson is a government contractor who lives in Alexandria, Virginia. She's also a mother of two children. In this episode, she shares her two maternity leave experiences with us.
