However, the Washington-based National Partnership for Women & Families, a strong proponent for paid sick leave, cited a study that found paying a worker to stay home when sick saves employers twice as much money than paying for them to work when sick.

While the press conference was happening, Philadelphia became the 17th U.S. city to pass a local law mandating paid sick days. Three states—Connecticut, California, and Massachusetts—mandate paid sick leave as well. The bulk of these advances at the city and state level have come just in the last two years, the fruits of a decade-long grassroots campaign.

“What a difference a few years makes,” said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.

Employees without paid sick days are more likely to go to work while ill, potentially spreading infectious diseases to co-workers, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families, a proponent of sick-day legislation.

“This is a good day for Philadelphians and for the effort to ensure that all workers in this country have this basic right,” Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families said in a statement.

“The momentum for paid sick days is undeniable,” Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, said in a news release.

The National Partnership for Women and Families reports that almost 30 percent of adults serve as unpaid family caregivers annually. When a family caregiver has a paid job, their caregiving duties will necessitate taking some time off. We want caring and healthier families. A national paid sick days requirement is an overdue policy to strengthen and support American families.

“Generally, the laws require employees to earn an hour of paid sick time for a certain number of hours worked,” said Vicki Shabo, vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Vicki Shabo, vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families, told Bloomberg BNA Jan. 23 that the organization opposes the bill because it offers workers a “false choice” between pay and leave time. “Workers need the wages to support their families and they need the time to care for themselves and their loved ones,” she said.

In New Jersey, in the year after giving birth, women who take paid leave have been about 40 percent less likely to receive public aid or food stamps, a Rutgers study commissioned by the National Partnership for Women and Families found.

“You’re finally starting to see momentum on [paid leave and paid sick days],” says Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families. Over the past decade, Ness has noticed that young parents are becoming increasingly angry at the lack of employer support when they start to have children. “This will be part of the conversation during the next election,” she says. “The sleeping giant is waking up.”

“Ensuring federal employees can take paid time off when new children arrive is not only the right thing to do for the health and well-being of these workers and their families; it would also save the government money through reduced turnover and replacement costs, and it would help the federal government attract and retain a valuable workforce, including much-needed younger workers,” said National Partnership President Debra Ness in a statement.