Sometimes I feel like publishing a list of the 100 worst companies for working mothers. It wouldn’t be easy to pick them. The competition would be stiff, since most companies do not come anywhere close to meeting the standards Working Mother has set for what it means to be a Best Company. Examine the “Best vs. Rest” article on page 52 of the magazine and you’ll see that 47 percent of all companies do not offer flexibility, for example. And 84 percent do not offer paid maternity leave.

This infuriates me.

Flexibility is the No. 1 thing women want from their workplaces. We have found this year after year, survey after survey. And yet flexible work arrangements still elude most moms.

And don’t get me started on paid maternity leave. The United States is the most uncivilized big country in the world on this issue. Every developed country on earth except three (three!) mandates paid leave for new moms. You tell me, which of these countries doesn’t belong in this group: United States, Swaziland, Papua New Guinea?

These three countries are the only ones that don’t require companies to offer paid leave to new moms.

See My Video on why we need paid parental leave now.

I love babies. Their tiny hands and big eyes and smoothest skin make the difficulties of new motherhood melt away during quiet moments of deep bonding. Every mom deserves that bonding time. And certainly every baby requires it. American babies are not getting an equal start in life when they are the only ones not born into the protection of paid maternity leave.

Thank goodness for the Working Mother 100 Best Companies. They cheer me up as I cheer them on. They carry the banner of moms and dads and babies forward, they serve as a role model for the “Rest,” and they keep finding new ways to support their hardworking moms. New ways to flex, to support babies, to advance women, and to erase the stigma of taking the time working parents need to be with their families.

What do you think?  Leave me a comment below or on Twitter: @CarolEvansWM