Paid Family Leave And Parents Who Aren't Currently Being Helped

Forbes

11-05-2025

Not all parents are able to take paid family leave
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The ability to take time off to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill relative or manage one's own health crisis without jeopardizing financial stability is undeniably beneficial. However, the current landscape of paid family leave policies in the United States, primarily a patchwork of state-level programs and employer-provided benefits, leaves many parents behind. Only 27 percent of U.S. workers have access to paid family leave through an employer and only 40 percent have access to short-term disability insurance.
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave; its limitations are significant. Strict eligibility requirements based on employer size, tenure and hours worked exclude a substantial portion of the workforce, particularly those in low-wage jobs, part-time positions, small businesses and freelancers. As more people in the U.S. are starting their own businesses, self-employed parents are growing in number – and need.
As a self-employed mom, I was not able to take a full maternity leave when my daughter was born in 2022. Instead, I scaled back to part-time work for the first month after my daughter was born and then returned to my full-time workload when she was four weeks old. I appreciated the ability to work from home and have a flexible schedule to make this arrangement feasible, but other parents who are not currently covered by family leave policies are not as fortunate.
Dawn Huckelbridge, director of Paid Leave for All, explained in an email interview, 'While the FMLA provides job-protected leave, it's unpaid and only covers employees at larger companies who have been there for at least a year. That leaves out millions of new parents who either can't afford to take unpaid time off or work for small businesses. I've seen workers forced to return to their jobs within days of childbirth or adoption because they simply couldn't afford the income gap, and the emotional and physical toll it takes is profound.' According to Huckelbridge, only one in four workers has access to paid family leave through their jobs. 'We are one of the only countries in the world that doesn't guarantee any form of paid leave for its people,' explains Huckelbridge. 'Fourteen states, including DC, have passed paid leave policies of their own, but we have nothing at the federal level.'
Nearly one in four employed mothers have returned to work within two weeks of giving birth and one in five retirees have left the workforce earlier than planned to care for an ill family member. Even for those who are covered under FMLA's unpaid leave policy, within marginalized communities and lower-income families, parents are often unable to afford to take unpaid time off. The state-level paid family leave programs in states like California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Delaware and the District of Columbia offer a glimmer of hope. These programs provide partial wage replacement for eligible workers, making leave more financially viable. However, even these progressive initiatives create disparities, since not all workers are eligible.
For example, eligibility for both FMLA and state paid family leave programs often hinges on meeting minimum work hour and tenure requirements, which disproportionately exclude low-wage workers and those in the increasingly prevalent gig economy. These individuals often lack employer-provided benefits and face greater job insecurity; the absence of portable benefits and the inconsistent nature of their employment create significant barriers to accessing any form of paid leave.
Addressing these inequities would require a multi-pronged approach, including a federal mandate for comprehensive paid family leave, with inclusive eligibility criteria and adequate wage replacement. This would establish a baseline of support for all working parents, regardless of their employment circumstances or family structure. Existing state programs and employer policies could be reviewed and expanded to better accommodate the diverse needs of parents, like being more inclusive of modern family structures and allowing workers in the gig economy and those with non-traditional employment arrangements to accrue and access paid leave.
Some progress has been made, including paid parental leave for federal workers. And now, there is an act in the works that would address many inequalities. The FAMILY Act, formally the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, is a proposed U.S. law that aims to create a national paid family and medical leave program. If enacted, it would provide the permanent right to paid, job-protected, comprehensive family and medical leave to most or all American workers.
Huckelbridge shares, 'The FAMILY Act would reach the vast majority of those in the labor force who are providing caregiving to loved ones.' The act would provide an inclusive definition of family along with provisions for self-employed people. Huckelbridge continues, 'FAMILY would explicitly provide self-employed individuals with benefits on the same basis as employees. That means that the program would provide self-employed workers with cash makeup for lost income, which gives some flexibility to figure out how best to address their needs and those of their business.'
Huckelbridge is optimistic about the FAMILY Act. 'Paid family leave is one of the most widely supported policies in the country, especially now — support is at record highs, across party lines and walks of life. It is a powerful tool for public health and economic growth, it encourages entrepreneurship and supports small businesses. It is about security and dignity. But ultimately, it is also about the most important moments of our lives — a baby's first smile, a parent's last breath. It is a reminder of what's most important, and it is the freedom to be present for it, something most of the world takes for granted.'