Most working families are painfully aware of the state of paid family leave in our country, and that the U.S. ranks among the worst in the world in benefits for new mothers and fathers. There is a lot of buzz in the media about how this may finally be the year that the U.S. catches up and supports families through paid leave. Currently, private companies are leading this movement, with more employers offering paid leave for both mothers and fathers in the event of childbirth or adoption. List Your Leave is helping to further this change by creating transparency around family leave policies.

Leave policies have real effects on maternal and child health as well as wages, promotions and job satisfaction. Yet a company’s leave policy is rarely discussed at a job interview, negotiating table or even among co-workers before an employee needs to take a leave. Most people discuss vacation time, retirement benefits, and of course salary and wages when taking a job – so why is family leave any different? Why are we expected to take a vacation but not have a family?

List Your Leave hopes to change that by providing a free database of family leave policies, with company culture ratings and anonymous reviews. What if you knew a company’s family leave policy before taking the job? What if you could point out the industry standards for leave? What if companies knew paid leave was an important benefit to all American workers?

The statistics around paid leave in the U.S. range from dismal to frightening: women can lose 25% of their annual income each year they have a child; right now in the U.S. 44% of workers remain without access to any leave at all; only 13% of workers have access to paid leave; almost 25% of mothers return to work within two weeks after childbirth; and paid leave has been linked to a 10% reduction in infant mortality around the world.

When companies support their workers in creating both a successful career and a rewarding family life, both benefit tremendously. Data supports this, and List Your Leave believes the way to achieve this for all American workers is through transparency.

By sharing your experience on List Your Leave you can not only help out other moms trying to make sense of their leave benefits, you can help all companies know how much paid family leave matters to working families.

If employees care about leave, companies will too.

The List Your Leave is a free database of leave policies and a platform for transparent information sharing, policy reviews, and company culture ratings. List Your Leave was founded by a group of young working professionals dedicated to both work and family. Our mission is to create a dialogue between American companies and families about leave policies. If employees care about family leave, companies will too. Visit List Your Leave to add a company review and search company policies and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.