Paid Family Leave
No one should be forced to choose between their family and their job. Sadly, in today’s economy that’s the situation millions of Americans face when they need time to care for a newborn baby or a sick family member.
Today, 66% of mothers with young children work outside the home, and 20% of adults care for an elderly relative. The demands on our families have changed dramatically over the past 30 years, but our workplaces haven’t kept pace. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act established in 1993 was a good start, but for too many, financial realities make taking that time off impossible.>
The U.S. is the only advanced country without a paid family leave program, and it shows:
- 78% of people who need family leave can’t afford to take it.
- Less than 10% of American workers get paid time off to take care of family members at times of extreme need.
- Roughly half of all personal bankruptcies result from health care-related crises.
In 2007, the Working Families Party’s campaign for a statewide paid family leave program took the simple idea from the margins to one of the top priorities of Albany Democrats. Legislation to create a paid family leave program has passed the State Assembly, but Republicans in the State Senate have refused to bring the groundbreaking legislation up for a vote.
