In Good Company

These are some numbers from about a year ago. They were appalling enough then but given the recent study of mortality rates that showed the United States hovering down the list next to Latvia, it seemed like an interesting refresher regarding this country's continued insistence that it has "the best health care system in the world," while health statistics constantly demonstrate a reality quite apart from the myth.

In a study of ensured and financed maternity leave around the world, 163 of 168 surveyed countries had programs for paid maternity leave. You might expect that the poorest countries in the world probably wouldn't have such programs and you'd be right, mostly.

Countries that did not have a paid maternity leave program:

Lesotho
Papua New Guinea
Swaziland
United States

Swaziland.

Oh, to be known by the company we keep.