All Blog Posts

Paid Family Leave Family Economic Security

02/06/13

As breastfeeding advocates, we know the incredible impact the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has had on millions of families across the nation. Day after day moms come forward ready to share the story of their breastfeeding journey, telling of the barriers they faced and the ways they overcame...

MomsRising Together

Cathy Carothers

MomsVote

02/06/13

While traditional political campaigns were out knocking on doors this autumn to get out the vote, health care providers in one of America’s poorest (and most remote rural, Hispanic, Native American) counties tried a novel approach to civic participation: we vaccinated thousands of our elders for...

MomsRising Together

Lauren Reichelt

Paid Family Leave Family Economic Security

02/05/13

This column originally appeared in The Hill's Congress Blog . Today is the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the first bill President Bill Clinton signed into law and the first national law ever to help workers meet the dual demands of work and family. In the two decades since...

MomsRising Together

Debra L. Ness

Paid Family Leave Family Economic Security

02/05/13

Having a baby is not for the faint of heart. We women put our physical safety on the line to be pregnant and deliver a baby -- even American women, who have access to the most highly educated of medical professionals, the most advanced of medical technologies, and the most gleaming of sterile...

MomsRising Together

Kelly Singleton Dalton

Paid Family Leave Family Economic Security

02/05/13

Today we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA. Legislation that has been used an estimated 100 million times – by moms and dads to take care of new babies, by adult children to care for ailing parents, by husbands and wives to care for a spouse with a serious...

MomsRising Together

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Health Care

02/05/13

“Where do babies come from?” That perfectly normal question from children has been striking fear in the hearts of some parents since our culture started allowing children to be seen AND heard. The question sometimes seems to come too soon ( why are you thinking about that already? ) and almost...

MomsRising Together

Leslie Kantor

Paid Family Leave Family Economic Security

02/05/13

“In my current career, I have had the blessing and misfortune to use FMLA twice. Once to bring a child into the world, and once to grieve the loss of my eight-year-old son. I am fortunate that my union contract has expanded the benefit beyond the basic requirement of the law, but that expansion...

MomsRising Together

Leo Gerard

Paid Family Leave Paid Sick Days

02/05/13

On FMLA’s 20th birthday, America should celebrate this critical piece of legislation, which gave millions of workers the right to job-protected, unpaid leave. But we must also recognize how much farther we have to go in creating a workplace that takes into account the caregiving needs of the 21st...

MomsRising Together

Liz Watson

Paid Family Leave Family Economic Security

02/05/13

Sharing my story hasn't been easy, but I have faced a lot of battles in my life and this is just one more I know I can conquer. My hope is that by telling my story, as painful as it is, I am able to help other cancer patients who have been harassed or wrongfully terminated by their employer and...

MomsRising Together

Vivienne Parra

Paid Family Leave

02/05/13

It took at least ten years of work by unions, women's organizations and other progressive groups. But when the Family and Medical Leave Act was signed into law in 1993, it made a big improvement in the lives of working women and men. The Family and Medical Leave Act was an important step forward in...

MomsRising Together