Making the Case for Paid Family and Medical Leave

This collection provides a sampling of CAP's best research and original analysis on the benefits of a comprehensive paid leave program for all working families.

In this series

Compact View

People Need Paid Leave Policies That Cover Chosen Family Report

People Need Paid Leave Policies That Cover Chosen Family

Nearly one-third of people in the United States have taken leave to support a chosen family member’s health needs—but public policy largely fails to support them.

Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Laura E. Durso, Frank J. Bewkes, 1 More Eliza Schultz

Paid Family and Medical Leave: By the Numbers Fact Sheet

Paid Family and Medical Leave: By the Numbers

Current data show the need for a comprehensive paid family and medical leave policy.

the Women’s Initiative

The Importance of Paid Leave for Caregivers Report

The Importance of Paid Leave for Caregivers

Comprehensive paid family and medical leave not only helps workers care for their families but keeps them in the labor force, thus boosting the entire U.S. economy.

Joelle Saad-Lessler, Kate Bahn

Paid Sick Days and Paid Family and Medical Leave Are Not Job Killers Report

Paid Sick Days and Paid Family and Medical Leave Are Not Job Killers

Contrary to claims by opponents, paid sick days and paid family and medical leave do not lead to a rise in unemployment but rather benefit workers, businesses, and the economy.

Danielle Corley, Sunny Frothingham, Kate Bahn

Breadwinning Mothers Are Increasingly the U.S. Norm Report
Marisela Martinez-Cola, right, a lawyer and a parent living in an Atlanta suburb with her husband Greg, left, and their 7-year-old son, David, prepare for a typical school and work day Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, in Lawrenceville, Ga. The couple send their son to private school and have hired a tutor to improve David's reading _ expenses made possible by Greg’s salary as a regional buyer for Costco Wholesale. (AP Photo/David Tulis)

Breadwinning Mothers Are Increasingly the U.S. Norm

The share of U.S. breadwinning mothers continues to grow, and understanding them is vital to understanding the modern labor force.

Sarah Jane Glynn

Paid Leave 101 Report

Paid Leave 101

Many Americans still do not understand the complementary but different roles paid sick days and paid family and medical leave play for working families.

Kaitlin Holmes, Sarah Jane Glynn

Paid Leave Is Good for Small Business Report
Attendees are seen at a rally for paid family leave in New York, March 10, 2016. (AP/Seth Wenig)

Paid Leave Is Good for Small Business

A national paid family and medical leave program would level the playing field for small businesses and ensure that all workers have access to strong work-family policy.

Danielle Corley

The Missing Conversation About Work and Family Report
Sandi Webster, owner of Consultants 2 Go, poses in her office in Newark, New Jersey, on September 24, 2013. (AP/Julio Cortez)

The Missing Conversation About Work and Family

Expanding the work-family narrative to be more inclusive of women’s diverse experiences is essential to developing policies responsive to the needs of all women.

Jocelyn Frye

The Cost of Work-Family Policy Inaction Report
A man sits at the kitchen table as his wife holds their daughter in Harlan, Kentucky, on October 18, 2014. (AP/David Goldman)

The Cost of Work-Family Policy Inaction

The lack of work-family policies in the United States costs working families billions of dollars in lost wages every year.

Sarah Jane Glynn, Danielle Corley

Rhetoric vs. Reality: Paid Family and Medical Leave Report
Bryan Niedermeyer and Angelica Juarez visit with their daughter Olivia at Advocate Children's Hospital in Chicago on March 15, 2016. (AP/M. Spencer Green)

Rhetoric vs. Reality: Paid Family and Medical Leave

Conservative proposals, such as business tax credits and pregnancy 401(k)s, do not cut it for working families that need paid family and medical leave.

Sunny Frothingham, Sarah Jane Glynn

Administering Paid Family and Medical Leave Report
Kamila Al-Najjar, center, visits with her mother, Joan Groen, right, along with her daughter, Inanna Al-Najjar, left, at an assisted living facility in Santa Rosa, California, on July 6, 2015. (AP/Eric Risberg)

Administering Paid Family and Medical Leave

Policymakers have a number of options for how to administer an efficient and affordable national paid leave program that uses the best-proven elements of existing programs in the states and abroad.

Sarah Jane Glynn

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