Paid Family Leave

Several states -- including most recently California -- have enacted legislation to provide family leave to employees.   Some states also provide decent assistance for childcare, with additional proposals promoting even stronger legislation.

According to the Center for Policy Alternatives, millions of American workers who qualify for family leave don’t take it because they cannot afford to go without pay.  

Although the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) guarantees unpaid leave for childbirth or family illness, many Americans simply can’t afford it. Of  workers who qualify for leave under the FMLA, 78% say they do not take it because they cannot afford to go without pay.

For those who take leave, the financial hardship can be great. Nearly 1 in 10 workers who take unpaid family leave are actually forced onto public assistance to make ends meet. The right to take leave is meaningless if a worker can’t afford it.  To the right are initiatives that State Legislatures have already passed to help solve this dilemma.

Start the Journey.  There is a choice.

The materials in this package come in large part from the work of the  The Labor Project for Working Families, the National Partnership for Women and Families, the National Employment Law Project and the Center for Policy Alternatives.  We thank them for mapping the way to the high road on Family Leave.

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