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We all need time to care, but the rising cost of essentials means that taking time away from work to welcome a new baby, care for an aging parent or seek treatment for a serious illness is out of reach for too many workers. Under the FAMILY Act a typical worker would receive $9,709 in benefits for 12 weeks of leave,* enough to cover basic expenses while away from work.

Anna is a manager at a restaurant making $63,360 a year – the salary of a typical full-time, year-round worker. After her father’s stroke, she needs 12 weeks of leave to help him recover, but is one of the millions of workers who lack paid family and medical leave.

While taking care of her father, Anna will spend an average of $632 per week on necessities, including housing, groceries, health care, transportation and personal care items. She will also need to cover an additional $161 per week to pay for caregiving related care costs such as hiring a part-time home health aide, helping her father with bills and modifying her home to be wheelchair accessible.

Without paid leave benefits to cover these expenses during her 12 weeks of leave, Anna would need to withdraw more than $9,500 from personal savings, take on debt or take a shorter leave of absence at the risk of jeopardizing her father’s recovery. For millions of workers like Anna, paid family leave means being able to afford the basics while taking care of themselves and their loved ones.

Unpaid Leave is Unaffordable for Too Many Workers

• Across the country, families are increasingly struggling to make ends meet as the costs of essentials like housing, health care and groceries rise faster than earnings.
• To cover 12 weeks of basic expenses, including rent and utilities, groceries, health care, transportation and personal care items, a typical worker would need $7,588.*
• Millions of workers lack paid leave through their private-sector employer that would help cover costs: 73 percent do not have access to paid family leave to care for their loved ones, and 58 percent do not have access to temporary disability leave to care for themselves when facing an illness.
• While some workers may be able to rely on personal savings while on unpaid leave, 45 percent of U.S. adults don’t have enough saved to cover three months of expenses.
• Two-thirds of workers who needed, but did not take, time away from work report being unable to afford unpaid leave.
• Unpaid and partially paid leave costs working families an estimated $34 billion in lost wages each year.
• Without paid family and medical leave, millions of families must make the difficult choice to take on debt, cut back on necessities, reduce leave taken or not take any leave at all.

Lack of Paid Leave Hits Some Workers Harder

• While more and more Americans are touched by the affordability crisis, which is exacerbated for those without paid leave, a pre-existing uneven playing field means these struggles are not felt equally.
• Workers of color, particularly Black workers, are less likely to have access to paid family leave, and have fewer financial resources to fall back on because of occupational segregation – when women and workers of color are segmented into low-wage jobs, wage disparities and wealth gaps.
• Unpaid time off is particularly unaffordable for low-wage workers, who spend a higher percentage of their incomes on necessities, and experience earnings and work schedule volatility that make it harder to cope with unexpected health or caregiving needs.

Health and Caregiving Needs Come with Additional Costs

• Ninety-five percent of family caregivers report out-of-pocket expenses related to caregiving, spending an average $8,384 per year in 2024.* These expenses include costs like helping pay for care recipient housing and medical expenses, traveling out of town or paying for in-home care services.
• Nearly half of family caregivers report negative financial impacts of caregiving such as using up personal short-term savings, taking on debt or being behind on bills.
• Welcoming a new baby comes with significant out-of-pocket costs, with new parents spending an estimated minimum of $750 per month on just diapers, wipes, feeding supplies and formula.
• Disabled adults, and those of us seeking treatment for a serious illness, also face additional out-of-pocket costs, making it harder to afford unpaid leave.

The FAMILY Act Would Make Leave Affordable for Millions of Workers

• The Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act would create a comprehensive national paid family and medical leave program that provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year.
• The FAMILY Act uses progressive wage replacement so that the lowest-paid workers would receive up to 85 percent of their usual monthly wages.
• The typical full-time worker would receive about two-thirds of their wages, a total of $9,709 for 12 weeks of leave – enough to cover the typical cost of rent and utilities, groceries, health care, transportation and personal care items while away from work.

For the millions of Americans who are working while providing care for loved ones, rising costs often make it hard, if not impossible, to take time off from work. Passing the FAMILY Act is a critical step in ensuring all families can afford the basics, including time to care.

*Methodology Note: Benefit amounts are the author’s calculation of 12-week benefit using 2024 median full-time, year-round earnings for all full-time, year-round workers 15 and older ($63,360) according to the Current Population Survey 2024 and benefit formula as defined in The FAMILY Act, H.R. 5390, 119th Congress (2025). Weekly basic expenses are the author’s calculations using annual national average consumer expenditures from the Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2024 for consumer units by income before taxes. Expenditures based on average spending for a consumer unit with an income between $50,000-$69,999 in 2024, 2.3 people and 1.1 earners on average. Expenditure categories include rent and utilities (rented dwellings and utilities, fuels and public services); groceries (food at home); transportation (including net outlay of vehicle purchase, gasoline and other fuels, other vehicle expenses and public transportation); health care (including health insurance, medical services, drugs and medical supplies); and personal care products and services such as oral hygiene, shower products and shaving supplies. Weekly caregiving expenses based on author’s calculation using average annual out-of-pocket expenditures for family caregivers from 2021 Out-Of-Pocket Caregiving Costs Study by AARP. Caregiving costs adjusted for inflation using the annual Average Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average in 2021 and 2024 and reported in 2024 dollars.