Countries around the world have different systems for parental leave. The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that do not offer any kind of paid parental leave, on a federal level, to its citizens. While some Americans have the right to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, Swedes have the right to 480 days of paid leave. Sweden and the United States are both countries that want to be in the forefront of human rights and according to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), states parties shall “introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social benefits without loss of former employment, seniority or social allowances”. The two countries have signed the convention, but only Sweden has ratified it. The political systems and the view of the state, the individual and the family are other distinctions between the countries. Further, the history in which the countries’ welfare has been built has taken different ways. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the differences in parental leave in Sweden and the United States. The jurisprudence, the political systems, the ratification of the CEDAW and the history of welfare will be examined to try to answer the question why these two industrialized countries have a big distinction in the right to paid parental leave.