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.
This Mother’s Day, as we celebrate the many, many ways that moms power the U.S. (and all of us!), we’re calling on Congress to power moms by passing care policies!
At the June 27th presidential debate, urge CNN to ask the candidates about their plans for building a care infrastructure (like child care and paid family and medical leave) and advancing maternal and reproductive health, including abortion care.
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.