Mothers are near and dear to our hearts, but are their needs treated with the same care in the workforce? On Mother’s Day, we celebrate with cards, flowers and expressions of gratitude, yet even with this appreciation, many mothers still lack the support they need in times when it matters most. Paid leave programs make it less likely for new mothers to fall into poverty and increase household incomes. Paid leave programs reduce the chances of depression for new mothers and improve maternal health. The United States still does not have a national guarantee of paid family and medical leave, suggesting a gap between what we value and what we support.
Who Gets Left Behind
Across the country, there remain stark disparities in who gets access and for how long. Nearly half of workers do not even have access to the unpaid, guaranteed, job-protected leave that the FMLA provides due to their employment status not meeting the requirements the FMLA outlines.
Access is also inequitable. Black, Asian and Hispanic workers are less likely to have paid time off than white workers. That has harmful consequences for Black women in particular. Twenty-one percent of parental leaves needed by Black women are not taken or are taken without pay, while 43.4 percent of parental leaves taken by Black women are unpaid.
Seventy percent of all pregnant women were employed during their year of pregnancy, and benefits such as paid leave would have benefited them. Leave is needed after giving birth to recover, bond with a new baby and organize the necessary care to be in place once parents return to work. New mothers with paid leave are more likely to return to their same employer and less likely to drop out of the labor force.
Paid leave programs have also been found to reduce infant hospital admissions and the likelihood of having ADHD, hearing problems or recurring ear infections.
Without access to paid leave, new mothers face risks like financial instability.
Paid Leave in Practice
Fifteen states, including D.C., have now enacted paid family and medical leave laws, with 34 percent of private sector workers now having access to paid leave in their respective states, showing both progress and the significant gaps that remain. Ninety-three percent of private sector workers across the states with paid leave are now eligible for paid leave.
A National Partnership report dives into data from three states, sharing data about how new parents are currently utilizing paid leave. New mothers are well-represented among those claiming parental leave, showing that when paid leave is available, new mothers are using it.
The analysis shows that many new mothers use the benefit and found that the majority of eligible mothers take leave. In Rhode Island, more than 70 to 80 percent of moms who were eligible made a claim related to pregnancy, birth or parental bonding, and in Washington’s first three years of launching their program, more than 55 to 60 percent of new mothers took leave. This suggests that as exposure to the program increases, the number of those who take it will also rise.
In Washington’s program, leave use increased across almost all racial and ethnic groups in the first few years, suggesting that awareness and access are expanding more broadly. Among women, medical leave participation is strong across all groups. Black women and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women were among the most likely to file and receive medical leave claims, followed by white, Latina, Asian American, and American Indian/Alaska Native women. Disparities still exist. Differences in some groups’ access to job protection and their eligibility for paid leave may be playing a role here.
Though the lowest-wage workers are underrepresented among claimants, low- and middle-wage women are still using paid leave programs. In Washington, newer data also points to more equitable use of parental leave across race and gender, as Black women’s utilization rates are very similar to those of white women, with little to no gap in uptake, which suggests the program may be reaching new mothers more evenly across groups. This is important because lower-wage workers and workers of color are the least likely to have access to paid leave and would benefit from more equitable usage.
Why Program Design Matters
Wage replacement levels and mechanisms also play a key role in shaping how equitably paid leave programs are used. For example, when the first two state programs were initially rolled out, California offered 55 percent wage replacement and New Jersey 66 percent, reflecting early flat-rate designs that limited affordability for many workers. California and New Jersey have now raised their wage replacement rates for the lowest-paid workers to 90 and 85 percent, respectively, showing a shift towards improving access for low-wage workers. For new mothers, wage replacement is a critical feature of paid leave programs. The weeks following childbirth often come with increased expenses and reduced ability to work. Adequate wage replacement for workers with low wages is also important for racial equity, as women of color are disproportionately represented in lower-wage jobs.
From State Progress to National Policy
If mothers are truly valued, the policies that support them should show that. The FAMILY (Family and Medical Insurance Leave) Act would address America’s paid family and medical leave crisis nationwide and create a comprehensive national program meeting the needs of new parents. It would also close some of the care economy gap, where much of the responsibility for unpaid caregiving is disproportionately handled by women, by compensating women for caregiving responsibilities, reducing poverty and strengthening their labor force participation. State paid leave programs have already made meaningful contributions and continue to show what is possible when workers have access to this kind of support. A national solution like the FAMILY Act would make sure all workers, regardless of where they live, have access to the support they need during important life moments. As we celebrate mothers this Mother’s Day, that commitment should extend past the holiday and into the policies that support them.
