Paid leave is a basic workplace protection that allows workers to care for themselves and their loved ones without sacrificing their financial security. Yet, the United States remains the only wealthy nation without a national paid leave guarantee. The absence of federal policy leaves millions of workers, disproportionately women, without access to paid time off when they need it most. For mothers, caregivers, and low-income workers, this gap has serious consequences for economic stability and long-term workforce participation.
The evidence is clear that paid leave benefits workers, families, and employers alike. It supports physical and mental health, strengthens financial security, and helps keep workers, especially mothers and other caregivers, in the workforce. Yet even where paid leave policies exist, barriers to access persist, including low awareness, fear of workplace retaliation, and inadequate wage replacement. Without a comprehensive national policy, access to paid leave remains uneven, leaving the most vulnerable workers with the least protection.
Featured Policy Solutions
Enact a national program of paid family and medical leave.
Any such federal paid leave policy must prioritize inclusive definitions that cover a wide range of workers and situations, as well as robust benefits and protections that enable workers to actually use the benefit.
Ensure a national paid family and medical leave program has a sustainable, long-term funding source
that guarantees adequate investment without taking resources away from other critical social programs.
Enact national policies that guarantee a right for all workers across all industries and sectors to earn paid sick time or time off for short-term illness, injury, medical treatment, or to care for the health of a loved one.
Policymakers should consider options to extend paid sick leave to both part- and full-time workers, as well as assessing the impacts on contractors and gig workers.
