A primer on the difference between paid sick days and paid family and medical leave.
Fathers Need Paid Family and Medical Leave
Men increasingly want to be involved parents and caregivers in their families, and while their unpaid caregiving is worth more than $410 billion annually, most men still do not have access to paid family leave. Paid leave allows men to take time away from work after the birth or adoption of a child or to care for a loved one with a serious health condition.
Legislative Recommendations for Anti-discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunity Requirements in Federal Contracting
For nearly 60 years, Executive Order 11246 required federal contractors to take proactive action to advance equal employment opportunity as a condition of doing business with the federal government. This brief makes recommendations for Congress to restore and strengthen requirements originally established under the now-revoked order.
Pay Equity in Practice
America’s leading companies know that paying workers fairly isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a competitive advantage. This guide offers practical, actionable tools that any employer can use to assess and improve pay equity in their workplace.
The Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act
The Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act would address America’s paid family and medical leave crisis and benefit working people, their families, businesses and our nation’s economy.
Paid Leave Means a Stronger Nation
A state-by-state analysis that highlights the significant and growing need for a national paid family and medical leave law that covers workers in all 51 states.
The March 26, 2026 Executive Order on Federal Contractors and Diversity, Equity Inclusion, and Accessibility
This explainer lays out what federal contractors, civil rights organizations, and others need to know about the March 26, 2026 Executive Order and its impact on the current legal landscape.
State Paid Family & Medical Leave Insurance Laws
Paid family and medical leave insurance laws have been enacted in fourteen states, including in the District of Columbia.
Who Works from Home?
Remote Work, Gender Equity, and the Access Gap
Nearly 36 million workers – mostly women – telework at least some hours. We analyze who is and isn’t teleworking and propose new policies to thoughtfully implement work from home opportunities.
AI and Emerging Risks for Women Workers
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping labor markets and work in ways that will profoundly affect women workers, who comprise almost half the workforce yet face distinct vulnerabilities and opportunities with the growth of AI.
State Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs Cover Nearly 50 Million Workers
Thanks to 15 state-level paid leave programs, nearly 50 million private-sector workers nationwide – 34 percent – have or will soon have access to paid time away from their jobs for major health and caregiving needs. This report analysis how many workers are covered by each state program.
What’s the Wage Gap in the States?
Overall, women in the United States are paid 75 cents for every dollar paid to men, and that gap is widest for women of color. This persistent, pervasive wage gap is driven in part by gender and racial discrimination, workplace harassment, job segregation and a lack of workplace policies that support family caregiving, which is still most often performed by women.
More than Six Million Black Women Workers Live in States That Block Local Paid Sick Days Progress
Eighteen states fail to guarantee workers paid sick days and also block local governments from setting their own paid leave standards (known as “preemption”). More than 6.1 million Black women – 57% of Black women in the labor force nationwide – live in these 18 preemption states.
America’s Women and the Wage Gap
Every state has a gender wage gap, and it persists regardless of industry and education level and within occupations.
The Wage Gap #IRL (In Real Life) for Women of Color
Women of color are subjected to wide gender wage gaps due to experiencing the double bind of sexism and white supremacy in the United States and how our country systematically devalues women of color and their labor.
EEO-1 Data Collection
Collecting workforce demographic data at the federal level plays an important role in enforcing federal laws prohibiting job discrimination. This explainer provides an overview of the EEO-1 data collection and its uses.
State Paid Leave Programs Cover Nearly One-Third of Workers in the United States
Nearly one-third of all private-sector workers (32 percent) are eligible for paid leave under one of the 14 state programs that have been enacted. 46.2 million workers across the country are eligible for paid leave through their state program.
Key Facts: The Family and Medical Leave Act
NPWF research estimates that the FMLA has been used about 566 million times by working people who needed to care for their own health or the health of their families. In 2025 alone, more than 15 million workers were supported by the FMLA.
Do Market Options Provide Time to Care?
As legislators in more states consider options to increase workers’ access to paid family and medical leave, understanding the strengths and limitations of market-based paid leave – and how coverage compares to universal, comprehensive programs – is essential.
The Share of Mothers Who Work Is Shrinking – and Black Mothers Face the Steepest Declines
New analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families and The 75 Million Project finds that Black mothers of young children are facing the steepest declines in labor force participation in recent years. The declines are particularly dramatic for college-educated Black mothers – and they have been most pronounced in recent months.