This State Policy at a Glance is a State PAL project of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
In 2026, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) tracked 21 policy priorities through the State Policy Action Lab (State PAL) across four issue areas: caregiving and families, education and career advancement, equitable work and wages, and reproductive justice and health equity. State PAL provides more than 100 data indicators as well as timely state-level legislative tracking and actionable policy recommendations.
IWPR ultimately tracked nearly 350 bills across all 50 states’ and the District of Columbia’s respective legislative sessions throughout the year. Among the 21 legislative topics tracked on State PAL, paid family and medical leave (PFML) was by far the most common topic of action in the states, with 60 identified bills, followed by child tax credits, with 46 identified bills introduced.
Seventy-three percent of private sector workers lack access to paid family leave.1 This number is significantly higher—95 percent—for the lowest-wage workers, who are predominantly women and people of color.2 Women of color are more likely to be the breadwinner for their families than White women, with 69 percent of Black women being the primary wage earners.3 Research shows that 38 percent of Black women need leave but do not take it, while 42 percent take unpaid leave to care for themselves or their family.4
This lack of access stems from the absence of a federal law guaranteeing paid family and medical leave. The Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, first introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in 2013, would guarantee up to 12 weeks of partial income for all workers to take leave for major family or medical needs.5 While the legislation has garnered growing support over seven congressional sessions, it has yet to become law. As a result, states have had to fill the gaps these workers are experiencing. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted PFML laws, and many more have introduced similar PFML legislation.6
IWPR recommends that states require comprehensive PFML to guarantee a minimum of 12 weeks of paid leave for all workers for a wide range of purposes. Paid leave laws should prioritize a broad and inclusive definition of family, a wage replacement rate that is high enough for workers to use the benefit, and critical job protections upon return to work.
Research shows that paid leave:
Learn more about what the research shows in IWPR’s Federal Policy Solutions to Advance Gender Equity Paid Leave brief.
The 60 bills related to PFML tracked by IWPR’s State PAL in 2026 included provisions requiring at least a partial wage replacement and covering a significant portion of the workforce, such as state employees, and other workforce sectors that are women-dominated, like education or health care. Over the past year, five states (Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) advanced PFML bills through one or more state legislative chambers but did not become law. Ultimately, eight states enacted nine new PFML laws in 2026: Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah (two), and Virginia.
The amount of paid time off and the workforce covered by these new state PFML laws varied widely, ranging from 3 weeks in Georgia to 12 weeks in North Carolina and Virginia, with the most common amount of leave being 6 weeks, required by four of the new laws (in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah). These new laws also predominantly cover only a portion of the workforce: Only the new law in Virginia covers all workers, with the remaining laws covering only a portion of the workforce, such as state employees or educators.
On April 22, 2026, Virginia became the latest state to enact PFML when Governor Abigail Spanberger signed legislation that provides 12 weeks of PFML to all workers in the state, including wage replacement of up to 80 percent of the employee’s average weekly wage.7 This policy covers both full-time and part-time workers as well as those who are self-employed. Virginia workers can start contributing to the program on April 1, 2028, and will be able to begin taking leave and receiving benefits on December 1, 2028.
As states seek to advance and enact PFML programs, policymakers must ensure that all workers— regardless of employer, part- or full-time employment status, or sector—have access to leave. When states’ PFML laws only apply to public employees or full-time workers, for instance, and do not include coverage for and provide access to leave for part-time workers, women of color suffer. As reflected in State PAL, 25.3 percent of employed Black women and 30.4 percent of employed Latinas are working part-time.8 Without PFML for part-time workers, these women lack guaranteed access to paid leave benefits.
Further, as attacks on diversity programs and college affordability increase, women of color are disproportionately left behind by PFML policies that only provide benefits to workers in sectors that frequently require a bachelor’s or graduate degree, such as state employment and the education sector.9 While 22.7 percent of women overall have completed a bachelor’s degree and 15.6 percent a graduate degree as their highest level of educational attainment, these figures vary dramatically by race and ethnicity.10
Lack of generational wealth among Black families due to centuries of racial discrimination contributes to the financial barrier to higher education that Black women face.11 Despite these obstacles, 16.3 percent of Black women have completed a bachelor’s degree, and 12.1 percent have completed a graduate degree.12 Among Latinas, who likewise face systemic and financial barriers to higher education, 14.9 percent have completed a bachelor’s degree, and 7.7 percent have completed a graduate degree.13
Failing to extend paid leave protections beyond sectors that require a higher level of educational attainment compounds the barriers that Black women and Latinas, as well as their families, already experience in seeking the economic stability that paid leave can help to provide.
Although multiple states recently made progress in enhancing new PFML policies, there is still significant work left to do to ensure all workers, including women—and especially women of color—have access to these benefits. As the 2026 state legislative sessions adjourn and we prepare for the 2027 sessions, IWPR’s State PAL will continue to reflect timely legislative activity on PFML and other critical gender equity action in states across the country.
Learn more about PFML data, policy, and gender equity in your state and across the country at IWPR’s State PAL.
