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
We deserve more than a smoke and mirrors solution. Sign MomsRising’s urgent letter to tell your national leaders to commit to passing paid family and medical leave for every worker.
The time is now – working families can't wait any longer for comprehensive paid family & medical leave.
Moms and families deserve to have access to paid days off from work. Moms need and deserve time off to care for a sick parent, attend a recital or simply take a break.
All families deserve good paid leave policies that allow them the time to care for themselves or their loved ones when a serious health or caregiving need arises.