“When I had my first child I had to return to work within 3 weeks. I was teaching high school science…I only had 2 weeks of paid vacation so I used all of it. I only had a third week off because my daughter’s birth came at spring break.” – Holly, a MomsRising member

Unfortunately, Holly's situation is not uncommon in the United States, the only industrialized country in the world without a national paid leave policy. 

Only 13 percent of Americans have access to paid family leave through their employers. Yes, the 22-year-old Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows some employees to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected (but unpaid) leave. But FMLA only covers about 60 percent of employees. Further, many people who are eligible to take FMLA can’t afford to take it, because it's unpaid. 

That's the bad news. 

Here's the good news: We can change this. Momentum is building here, close to home, where King County is considering 12 weeks of paid family leave for all of it’s workers! Things are moving since the City of Seattle just passed paid family leave for all city workers, a bill is being considering in Olympia for everyone in the state, and Congress is considering a bill for paid family leave for the entire nation as well. Keep the momentum going!

Tell your King County Council members to support 12 weeks of paid family leave for everyone who works for the county!

Did you know:

• Paid family leave after the birth of a child combats poverty, gives children a healthy start, and lowers infant mortality by more than 20%. 
• Paid leave saves significant tax dollars and reduces reliance on public assistance. 
• Paid leave helps lower the wage gap between women and men. 
• Paid leave is good for business: A 2011 study of the California Paid Leave program showed that most employers found that paid family leave had a positive effect on productivity, profitability/performance, turnover and employee morale. 

It’s true! Let’s make paid leave a reality. 

We need paid family leave now more than ever before. For the first time in history, women comprise half of the paid labor force, three-quarters of moms are in the labor force, and the majority of families need two working parents to make ends meet. This, and the fact that over 80 percent of women in our nation have children by the time they are 44, add up – so you can see why leaders must prioritize paid family leave, like our MomsRising members do.  It is long past time for our public policies to catch up to the modern realities of families today. 

Whether it’s to care for a newborn you swear already smiles, a mom who is ill, or a spouse battling cancer, being there for family is what matters. You shouldn't have to give up a paycheck to do it. It's time for paid family leave.

Working together, we can make access to paid family leave a reality one step at a time: First Seattle City and King County workers, next the state, and then the nation!