Paid Family Leave

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Paid Family Leave

Paid family leave policies require employers to allow eligible parents to take time off from work to bond with a new child while receiving a portion of their salary. By providing parents with the time and financial security to stay home with a new child, paid family leave can improve both economic security and the health and wellbeing of children and parents.

Featured Resources

2025 Roadmap Profile: Paid Family and Medical Leave

Paid family and medical leave programs providing a minimum of 6 weeks of leave for all parents with a new child increase access to paid time off from work, reduce racial disparities in leave-taking, boost mothers’ labor force participation, improve maternal mental health, and foster better child-parent relationships and child health.

Webinar Recording: Building the Business Case for Paid Family Leave

Paid family leave is one of the most impactful, yet cost-effective, policies a state can adopt to support infants, toddlers, and their families. Despite the strength of these impacts, it can be challenging to garner support from businesses.

Evidence Review: Paid Family Leave

Studies that examine the causal impact of paid family leave policies find that providing at least 6 weeks of paid leave to parents with a new child increases the length and likelihood of leave-taking, increases mothers’ labor force participation rates, improves mothers’ mental health, and fosters better child-parent relationships and child health.

Related Resources

2025 Prenatal-to-3 Legislative Roundup

With most legislatures adjourned for the year, we recap the 2025 action on state policies to support children and families. So far this year, lawmakers throughout the country debated—and many passed—legislation that aligns with four key components of the prenatal-to-3 system of care.

Benefit-Cost Analysis of a Paid Family and Medical Leave Program in Vermont

Paid family and medical leave policies are proven to strengthen families’ economic security, support the health and wellbeing of children and parents, and improve mothers’ labor force participation, among other benefits. In partnership with the

How Do State Policy Choices Impact Family Resources?

The Policy Impact Calculator compares the level of resources available to a full-time working family across states. This interactive tool offers a self-guided tour of the substantial variation in state policy choices for working families

State Policy Progress on Paid Family and Medical Leave in 2025

Paid family and medical leave (PFML) is one of several evidence-based policies in our 2025 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap, which details states’ progress toward adopting and implementing policies that effectively improve child and family wellbeing.

2025 National Prenatal-to-3 Research to Policy Summit

Did you miss the Summit? Click here to access the full recording.

A Tale of Two States: The Impact of State Policy Choices on Family Resources

Since the release of our 2020 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap, every state has increased their investment in at least one effective Roadmap policy, but the choices they have made vary considerably. The distinct choices that