The State of Paid Family Leave in 2023: Glamour and Paid Leave for All Host an Historic Advocacy Day in the Capitol
12.05.2023 - 13:03
/ glamour.com
advocacy day on Capitol Hill yesterday, hosted by and , Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro told a packed roundtable: “Now we are close [to passing paid leave]. The President’s budget has $325billion for paid family and medical leave. That is the direction.
You don’t take no for an answer and you never give up. This institution has the power to transform people’s lives. We’re going to do it.”Through tears, , co-founder of the Congressional Mama’s Caucus and longtime paid leave proponent, echoed DeLauro’s sentiments.
She recalled the birth of her second son, and the impact of having to go back to work within a week: “I had him on Thursday. And I went back to work on Tuesday. Let’s be unapologetic about this.
We are asking for what is right, and moral.”The United States is one of in the world without a national paid leave policy, and have had to return to work within two weeks of giving birth. These statistics are what inspired the Glamour to follow eight women through the first postpartum, to show the impacts of the lack of paid leave on families. And the extraordinary roundtable marked the coming together of five of the mothers from Glamour’s now award-winning 28 Days paid leave project, with Representatives Rosa DeLauro, Dan Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Chrissy Houlahan, Brittany Pettersen, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Lauren Underwood to discuss the urgency of passing paid family and medical leave. During the hour-long meeting, , , , , and , shared their own experiences—noting how the lack of paid leave took away the rights of women and families to self-determine their own parenting journey. In particular, lack of paid leave forced Garcia back to work six days after giving birth, and Wells, 16 days.Founding director of Paid
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