Family and medical leave act: unresolved issues.

The United States' Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 was an effort to provide national support for families attempting to balance the demands of the workplace and the need to care for a new child, one's own health, or an ill child, spouse, or parent. It is seriously limited, however, in terms of its accessibility for many workers. We briefly compare the FMLA to the substantially broader policies of Western European countries.