US 'losing out' over paid maternity leave: UN

GENEVA: The United States is one of just three countries not to guarantee any paid maternity leave, a policy that costs the country dearly, the UN's labour agency said Tuesday.

Only Papua New Guinea, Oman and the United States -- the world's largest economy -- do not require employers to provide paid leave, according to an International Labour Organization report published Tuesday entitled "The State of Maternity and Paternity at Work".