More than six million Black women workers live in states where state laws prevent local action on paid sick days

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 19, 2026 – Coming off the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, and now transitioning into Women’s History Month, a new report shows that Black women are disproportionately impacted by the absence of a national paid sick leave law. The new analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families, A Better Balance and The 75 Million, finds that more than six million Black women workers live in “preemption” states. Not only do these states lack laws mandating paid sick days statewide, but they also ban local governments from passing their own paid sick days laws.

These states restrict local governments from implementing their own paid leave standards, despite 25 million Americans lacking access to paid sick leave. Black women are disproportionately impacted by these “preemption” laws because they are more likely than other groups of women to live in the South and in states that have regressive paid leave policies. The report also finds:

• More than 6.1 million Black women, or 57 percent of Black women in the labor force nationwide, live in these 18 preemption states. By comparison, overall, 43 percent of the U.S. labor force lives in these states.
• Black women account for 18 percent of the women’s labor force in these states, compared to 13 percent of the women’s labor force nationally.
• A majority of these states are in the South, disproportionately affecting Black women.

“In many of the very cities where Black communities have built cultural and economic power – places like Atlanta and Charlotte – state lawmakers are using preemption to strip local leaders of the authority to enact paid sick leave protections,” said Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families and co-lead of The 75 Million. “These actions are especially harmful for Black women, who frequently power our economy with some of the highest labor force participation rates for women in the country. Instead, they are being forced to shoulder caregiving and breadwinning responsibilities without the most basic workplace safeguards. Blocking progress on paid sick leave at the local level is a direct barrier to economic justice, public health and full democratic participation.”

“No one should have to show up to work sick or send a sick child to school. Black women are disproportionately suffering from a lack of access to paid sick days, and are often forced to make impossible choices between their health and paycheck as a result,” said Inimai Chettiar, president of A Better Balance. “It’s undemocratic and counterintuitive when states block their cities and towns from passing their own paid sick time laws. Our workplaces can and should lay a strong foundation for gender and racial justice, and a national paid sick time law would be a lifeline for millions of Black women who are being denied these rights.”

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A Better Balance is a national, nonprofit advocacy organization fighting to protect every workers’ ability to care for themselves and the people they love. Across every level of government, we pass, enforce, and defend workplace policies that promote families’ health and financial security, including paid leave, pregnancy accommodations, and more. A Better Balance’s Southern office is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Learn more at abetterbalance.org. A free legal helpline for workers is reachable at 1-833-NEED-ABB.

The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, reproductive health and rights, access to quality, affordable health care, and policies that help all people meet the dual demands of work and family.

The 75 Million is a national movement that fights for the 75 million working women who power America’s economy to defend their rights, wages, safety, and opportunity at work. It opposes extremist attacks on workplace protections and holds policymakers and corporations accountable for advancing substantive economic justice for women.

Media Contacts:

Kenneth Williams Jr., The 75 Million
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Katie O’Brien, A Better Balance
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Gail Zuagar, National Partnership for Women & Families
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