Paid family time off is on the decline in the US

Staying home for a few months after the birth of a child is great for bonding and adjusting to a life-changing event. You know what else is great? Rushing back to the office and being a more productive worker, according to a rising number of employers.

In 2025, the share of US companies offering paid family leave fell two percentage points to 31%, according to an annual survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. Deloitte and Zoom continued the trend this year, when they announced they were cutting back on the perk: Deloitte cut paid parental leave from 16 weeks to eight weeks for some employees, while Zoom slashed parental leave from 22 weeks to 18 weeks for most birth mothers, and from 16 weeks to 10 weeks for other parents.

Why are companies comfortable whittling benefits?

• As the job market weakens, employers don’t have to be as competitive with benefit programs to keep employees happy.
• Some of the decline stems from the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back DEI initiatives, which often include parental leave programs, experts told the New York Times.

Before you leave: The US lacks federally mandated paid family leave and has historically ranked near or at the bottom of global rankings when it comes to the quality of family leave.—DL