Paid Family Leave
Today, 77 percent of American workers don’t have access to a defined paid parental or family caregiving leave benefit, and 60 percent don’t have access to medical leave. Without paid family leave, many workers face difficult choices as they seek to balance work, family, and health. The COVID-19 crisis exacerbated these challenges and shone a spotlight on the need for pragmatic policies that help employees stay connected to the workforce. Paid family leave is one of these solutions. BPC is proud to have helped secure access to parental leave for members of the armed forces, tax credits to help businesses provide leave benefits, and emergency paid sick and family leave. But more action is needed. BPC is working to enact federal leave policies that support working families and help the economy.
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Adrienne Schweer
Fellow
State Paid Family Leave Laws Across the U.S.
The Paid Family and Medical Leave Business Tax Credit: What is it and how can employers use it?
New York Paid Family Leave
Workforce Gender Disparities Endure for Parent-Age Adults
Episode 93: BPC Weekly
Paid Family Leave 101
BPC – Morning Consult: 1 in 5 Moms Experience Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace

Today is the first day that federal workers have 12 weeks of paid parental leave (moms and dads). It’s been a journey, but one I’m extremely proud of....
of workers between the ages of 20-54 have a child at home
of workers are covered by the COVID-19 emergency paid leave programs
Oral Testimony of Adrienne N. Schweer Before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Hearing
Coming Together to Support Workers and Families: A Pragmatic Agenda for the New Congress
Three Changes Congress Should Make Now to the Emergency Paid Leave Programs
Letter from BPC Task Force on Paid Family Leave
Any national plan is going to have to answer some essential questions: Who will be covered, what will the benefit be, how will the program be structured, and how to pay for it? But on some of these, common ground already exists. It’s time for collaboration and compromise to fill in the gaps.![]()
More on BPC and Paid Family Leave
Our Work
BPC’s paid family leave effort is committed to developing a policy roadmap for bipartisan, common-sense solutions that support America’s working families and promote America’s economic success. Americans overwhelmingly support the idea of paid family leave, whether to care for a new child, one’s own illness, or a sick family member. Republicans and Democrats have come a long way toward finding agreement on this issue, but Congress has yet to turn that growing consensus into actionable, bipartisan policy. BPC’s Task Force on Paid Family Leave seeks to take that next step.
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BPC drives principled and politically viable policy solutions through the power of rigorous analysis, painstaking negotiation, and aggressive advocacy.