Each year, millions of American workers who qualify for family or medical leave don t take it and two-thirds say it is because they cannot go without pay. For those who take leave, the financial hardship can be great. One in 11 leave-takers are actually forced onto public assistance to make ends meet. About forty percent of workers expect to need family and medical leave within the next five years. How many of them can actually afford the needed leave depends on whether states make paid family leave available.
Family leave benefits strengthen families.
As family and work patterns have shifted, more and more women are working to support their families. Since 1950, the number of women in the paid workforce has increased from 29.6 percent to more than 45 percent by 1997. With over 63 million women in the workforce, more and more families are forced to sacrifice their economic well-being to provide the care their family members so desperately need. Family leave benefits strengthen businesses. The evidence is solid that businesses do not suffer when workers are able to take needed leave, according to the bipartisan Commission on Family Leave.