Mother’s Day is a huge celebration in the U.S.– major companies advertise incessantly for the holiday as moms all over the country are honored. One would think that a country with such family-oriented values would be pushing for paid maternity leave for its employees.

Political satirist John Oliver brought the topic to his talk show “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday May 10. According to Oliver, only two countries in the world deny their new mothers time off with pay- the U.S. and Papa New Guinea. This makes the U.S. the only industrialized nation on earth that is still denying their new mothers paid time off.

“You deserve the very best, moms, you’re just not going to get it,” Oliver joked.

Oliver also brought up an act that was passed in 2002 in California that promised partially paid leave for mothers. He stated that it cost little to nothing to taxpayers, and was greatly helpful to new parents.

According to Time Magazine, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) promises women who take 12 weeks off to care for their newborn children that they will not lose their jobs. Unfortunately, this recently created act only protects women who work full-time for a medium or large company- it does not cover women who work freelance, part-time or at smaller companies.

“Mothers shouldn’t have to stitch together time to recover from childbirth the same way that we plan four-day weekends in Atlantic City,” Oliver said.

For Mother’s Day, Oliver advises the U.S. to propose a bill allowing paid leave for mothers instead of another gift card or piece of jewelry.

AP English Language teacher Rachel Cederbaum is in resounding agreement with Oliver, and appreciates his activism for the issue. She hopes that his strong words will raise more awareness of and sympathy towards parents enduring unpaid leave.

With a baby on the way, Cederbaum finds the U.S.’s maternity leave policy to be frustrating. Unfortunately, the rules are even worse here in Montgomery County. MoCo does not provide unpaid maternity leave, but allows new parents time off through sick days. Cederbaum has three weeks of paid sick leave built up, which she will use before taking another three months off unpaid, which she only has access to due to the FMLA.

According to Cederbaum, one would think teachers would receive better maternity leave plans due to the benefits the job provides. On the other side of the spectrum, Cederbaum has a friend in New Zealand enjoying a full paid year off to spend with her new child.

Fortunately, Cederbaum and her husband are both soundly employed, which means they will be financially stable through her time without pay.  She says that administration has been very helpful and accommodating through her pregnancy, yet recognizes that they are only able to go so far.

Cederbaum notes that not all expecting families are as lucky as she has been- several months without pay can place quite a strain on families.

“Babies are not cheap… they’re a job [on their own],” Cederbaum said.

Oliver and Cederbaum are in no way alone in their dismay towards the maternity leave in the U.S. According to the Washington Post, the U.S.’s lack of paid maternity leave is despicable.

“‘Congratulations! You had a baby! Now, get back to work.’ Crazy, right?” said Washington Post writer Amy Joyce. “It’s insane, almost laughable, that this country has no paid leave for new parents.”

According to the Washington Post article, one of the new mothers that appeared on “Last Week: Tonight” said she only felt financially stable enough to take off one month. Another mother delivered her premature child on a Wednesday, and had to return to work the following Monday in order to take time off once her child was released from the hospital.

New mothers are not the only ones deserving of and pushing for paid leave- fathers have brought the issue up as well. In June 2014, over a dozen businessmen, researchers and fathers gathered in the White House to discuss how roles at home are shifting, and how more and more fathers are in need of paid time off to take care of their children as well.

Dads are growing increasingly vocal about this need- according to a report from Boston College, 89 percent of fathers in the U.S. voiced their opinion that employers should provide them with paid leave.

In a world of difficult economies and changing gender roles, new parents are as deserving as ever of paid leave after child birth- and as so many people agree, now is the time to give it to them.