Family & Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act!

Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act

This past week, advocates, working families, and Congressional champions stood together to introduce the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act! 

With a total of 190 House cosponsors, 38 Senate cosponsors, and more than 200 endorsing organizations, it was a great reminder of the power of partnership and the urgent need to pass pro-family policies, such as paid family and medical leave.

• Right now only 17% (!) of Americans have access to paid family leave through their employer and fewer than 40% have personal medical leave provided through an employer.

• Although the current Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows some employees to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave, it only covers about 60 percent of employees.

• A quarter of all poverty spells in the United States are because of having a baby.

• The U.S is one of the only countries in the world that doesn't offer paid leave to new mothers.

• Paid family leave has been shown to reduce infant mortality by as much as 20% (and the U.S. ranks a low 37th of all countries in infant mortality).

• Paid leave improves worker retention, which saves employers money through reduced turnover cost.