In order to spark action, “we need more stories,” he declared. “Not process. Stories.” Stories which Glamour is committed to telling, through our landmark paid leave project.
And Harris, who during her speech drew on her own experience of taking paid time off to care for her sick mother, said: “Women are 40 percent more likely to need family and medical leave, because they are more likely to take on caregiving responsibilities. Over the past half century, women’s workforce participation has increased by 30 percent. That change alone has strengthened our economy by over $2 trillion dollars. Let us continue to fight to build on the Family and Medical Leave Act so that everyone can take paid family leave.”
The promise is a significant policy commitment ahead of the President’s State of the Union address, and it follows the reintroduction of the FAMILY act (Representative DeLauro and Senator Gillibrand’s co-authored paid leave bill) yesterday, but it still faces an uphill battle in Congress.
Paid family leave was removed from the ultimately doomed Build Back Better bill in November 2021, after opposition from Democrat Senator Joe Manchin. And with the GOP controlling the House, its passage is far from assured.
But despite the challenges Dawn Huckelbridge, director of Paid Leave for All, told Glamour: “The President and Vice President’s renewed commitment and actions today are monumental. We look forward to working alongside side them and winning paid leave in this country.”
In order to show the catastrophic impact of the lack of paid leave on women and families, Glamour followed eight women with varying access through the first 28 days postpartum. Two of the women whose journeys Glamour documented were forced to go back to work within two weeks of giving birth, with two of the others forced to eat into their savings or go into credit card debt to cover bills.
There couldn’t be a more urgent time to deliver what the country needs—paid leave for all. So join Glamour in calling on the government—and your local representatives and senators—to #passpaidleave.
