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

In September 2010, I gave birth to my first child via c-section. I had arranged for 12 weeks of maternity leave at 2/3 pay, using vacation time, sick leave, and taking four weeks unpaid. I worked for a small nonprofit that lacked resources for paid maternity leave. Fortunately my husband's company...Read more

Jennifer

Blog posts

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A graphic image with a blue background and text that reads MOM-entum.]

MomsRising MomsVote

11/30/20

November is always a busy month, full of planning and anticipation for the holidays -- and full of gratitude and awe for what we accomplished together. We have one word for November: WOW! Well, actually two more words: THANK YOU!!! We just moved mountains together getting out the vote! The stats...

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Health Care MomsVote Paid Family Leave

11/19/20

ICYMI: The MomsRising community had a lot to celebrate this week, from an historic win for women and moms in Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, to ANOTHER municipality passing paid leave. We also remain grounded, providing guidance to keep families safe during the COVID-19 pandemic and fighting to...

Kerri Karvetski

a "mom" on a unicycle with pink pants and a blue shirt, juggling a cell phone, a calendar, a laptop, a child and a to do list.

Childcare & Early Education Families & The Federal Budget Family Economic Security Health Care Maternal Justice Open Flexible Work Paid Family Leave Paid Sick Days Politics & Policy Realistic & Fair Wages

10/29/20

In her latest blog post, Capacity Building Manager Marianne Bullock reflects on a new, precarious reality. "It's not that women are falling off the cliff," she shares, "but that we are being pushed off and out of the workforce by a lack of policies that support the on-the-ground reality of the burden of care for our children's wellbeing."

Marianne Bullock

MomsVote Paid Family Leave

09/11/20

ICYMI: With 53 days until Election Day, voting dominated the content you loved, shared, or might have missed for the week ending Sept. 11, 2020. 1) INSTAGRAM: Celebrate Moms Voting With This Mask Cute, safe and supporting our get-out-the-momvote campaign this fall. ORDER: https://action.momsrising...

Kerri Karvetski

Families & The Federal Budget MomsVote Paid Family Leave Politics & Policy

08/20/20

ICYMI: This week the MomsRising community shifted into high gear to ignite democracy and turn out the vote this Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020, and as always, stood up for families that need help during the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out these three important items that you loved, shared or might have...

Kerri Karvetski

{image description: empty school classroom chairs}

Childcare & Early Education Family Economic Security Paid Family Leave

08/12/20

It’s a back to school season like none we have ever experienced before. Instead of reviewing school supply lists, we’re dealing with a lot of uncertainty and scrambling to figure out what to do if (!?!?) or when (!?!?) our schools and child care centers reopen. This year the supplies that we need...