Paid Family & Medical Leave
Paid family and medical leave combats poverty, gives children a healthy start, and lowers the wage gap between women and men by providing structural support to balance work and family.
Know the Facts
- Right now only 17% (!) of Americans have access to paid family leave through their employer and fewer than 40% have personal medical leave provided through an employer.
- Although the current Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows some employees to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave, it only covers about 60 percent of employees.
- A quarter of all poverty spells in the United States are because of having a baby.
- The U.S is one of the only countries in the world that doesn't offer paid leave to new mothers.
- Paid family leave has been shown to reduce infant mortality by as much as 20% (and the U.S. ranks a low 37th of all countries in infant mortality).
- Paid leave improves worker retention, which saves employers money through reduced turnover cost.
What You Can Do
Blog posts
Take Action
The Senate needs to pass the Build Back Better Act with permanent and equitable paid family and medical leave now.
Just as families need support the most, monthly Child Tax Credit payments ended in December because Joe Manchin and the Republican Senators refused to pass Build Back Better. With Omicron raging, it's more important than ever to pass BBB to make child care and elder care affordable, guarantee paid family and medical leave, lower the cost of insulin and other prescription drugs, make healthcare more affordable, and more.
All families deserve to have access to Paid Family/Medical Leave. Paid leave benefits working people, small businesses and the economy. We need to keep comprehensive paid leave in the Build Back Better Act.
The historic, much-needed investments in the Build Back Better package, including paid family / medical leave, childcare, home- and community-based services, the Child Tax Credit, addressing equity in maternal health, healthcare, and immigration reform, will be transformative for moms, women, and families.